Preview: Gophers vs. UMD

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The Gophers definitely did not succeed in their exhibition opener on Saturday, so they’ll give it another try Thursday night when their cross-state “œrivals” come to town. The Bulldogs actually pushed the Gophers to the wire 4 years ago when they last met, and expect them to make a good showing this time as well.

As you would expect, UMD’s roster is comprised almost entirely of players from Minnesota and Wisconsin, so there are several familiar names. Former GopherJordan Nuness , 6’6″ senior Sean Seaman (Duluth Denfeld), 6’7″ junior Bryan Foss (Osseo), and 6’6″ junior Ryan Meissner (Osseo) are probably the most recognizable ones. And they’re all solid players along with 6’5″ senior John Emerson and 6’7″ sophomoreJohn Vaudreuil . Seaman, Emerson, Foss, and Vaudreuil combined to average 52 points per game last season.

As for Minnesota, they’re coming off a disappointing performance against SW Minnesota St. The offense wasn’t sharp, but that’s to be expected. It was the lack of hustle (at times) and defensive intensity that are the bigger cause for concern, although again it was just one exhibition game.

Still, the regular season is just a week away, and the crucial trip to Maryland is less than two weeks after that, so there’s no time like the present to get things turned around.

Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:

1. It Ain’t About Talent. Everybody knows the Gophers have more talent than the Bulldogs. And 9 times out of 10, that will be enough to get the win. But that doesn’t matter. What everyone really wants to see is the Gophers outworking the Bulldogs. Combine that with the talent edge and we’ll have a decisive victory and something to build on when the games start counting.

2. Get to the Line. We know Vincent Grier knows how to get to the free throw line. He did it more often than anyone in the conference last season, and he did it 10 times on Saturday. But the rest of the team only combined to get their 5 times. That needs to improve ““ especially in games where they have advantages in both size and quickness. It’s all about aggressiveness. Moe Hargrow can definitely get there several times. Adam Boone should be able to put the ball on the floor and get there. And Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson should be able to get there by going strong to the basket in the paint. 25 free throw attempts for Minnesota would be nice to see.

3. Face, Meet Hand. SW Minnesota St. only shot 39% against the Gophers, but that was their fault. They had a lot of open looks but couldn’t knock enough of them down. I’m not going to give much thought to UMD’s field goal percentage in this game, but I don’t want to see any open looks. The Gophers have the quickness to stay right in their faces, and they need to have the intensity that requires as well. Challenging every shot should be the goal.

Fan anxiety after Saturday’s game is quite premature in my opinion, but still, we’ll all feel much better if the Gophers atone for it with a dominating performance Thursday night. We need to expect some sloppiness if the freshmen get extended minutes, but we should always expect intensity. It can be contagious, and we need to have an outbreak in The Barn sooner rather than later. My prediction: Minnesota 75 UMD 58.

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