Preview: Gophers vs. Tigers

The Minnesota Gophers have had an intense last few days. Following an exciting week on the court culminating in a thrilling one point win over UAB, the Gophers had a tough week off the court as they hit the books for semester finals. In between there they had to prepare for two games in three days. First up is the Grambling Tigers on Wednesday night at The Barn.

The Tigers come to Williams Arena with a 2-3 record. After opening its season up with wins over Texas College and Belhaven, Grambling has dropped three straight, including its last game which was a 30-point loss at Texas A&M. The Tigers do return four starters from last year’s team which finished second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The keys to the game:

1. Decide on a rotation strategy. The Gopher coaches have an interesting decision to make over the next three games. On the one hand, it appears as if Minnesota has an opportunity to win big on Wednesday night and thus give some of the guys further down the bench some playing time. However, the team has only had a game or two with its entire roster and it needs to build some cohesiveness, rhythm and trust as the team has only three games before the Big Ten opener.

2. Take care of the ball. Minnesota is not getting consistent enough of guard play and tends to turn the ball over in transition way too much. This has to stop if the Gophers want to have success in the Big Ten.

3. Develop that killer instinct. Minnesota has struggled this season with burying teams when they have the opportunity. They can’t let that happen in the Big Ten and must develop a killer instinct ““ Wednesday night is a perfect time to start developing this.

Prediction: Minnesota 88 Grambling 62