Let's look at our friends to the north, the Golden Gophers. After their 4th consecutive loss back in January left the Gophers at 8-9, 0-6 in conference play, they looked like a team headed for the basement of the Big 10. Since then, they have gone 6-4, with wins at UCLA, USC, PSU and Iowa, along with home upsets over Michigan and Oregon. They also dropped home games to the two worst teams in the league, PSU and Washington. College basketball is a silly sport.
Their personnel has largely remained the same since December 29th - their starting lineup is unchanged, they have two main reserves, and three other players who see time in some games. Dawson Garcia is the obvious headliner, and CG Lu'Cye Patterson is their 2nd-best player. They only have two players who would be considered "good" at 3-point shooting, and they take the 4th and 5th-most 3 pointers on the team. They have struggled offensively in general over their last 7 games, with the exception of their loss to Illinois where they were on fire offensively, but neglected to play any defense whatsoever, allowing 95 points in 62 possessions.
They play at an even slower tempo than we do, and are comfortable passing, passing, and passing some more until they find the shot they want, which is more often than not a 2-pointer. They shoot threes less frequently than we do, and are 14th in the conference at getting to the FT line (though we, of course, are dead last in allowing our opponents to get to the FT line, as well as dead last in getting there ourselves, imagine that...). In line with their slow tempo, they almost never look to get out in transition, but if they do, they generally like to try to get a 3-pointer on the run. In the half-court, they run their offense through Garcia, who rarely comes off the floor. They roll him off a PnR, post him up, have him set a pick and pop out for a 3, or just have him shoot a midrange jumper. They also tend to get a lot of scoring off of offensive rebounds. What they are not great at doing is hitting 3s, where they shoot just 31.3% against top-100 teams, 305th in the country. They also shoot just 55.0% at the rim, which is 263rd. They are best at midrange shots, which is still a pretty inefficient way of scoring.
On defense, they have two stalwart defenders in their starting lineup - Parker Fox and Femi Odukale. Both are top-15 in conference at blocking shots, despite standing at 6'8" and 6'6" respectively, and Fox is also top-10 in steals. Meanwhile Garcia is one of the best defensive rebounders in the country as well as being a decent shot blocker. Their biggest weaknesses on defense are defensive rebounding, opponent 3-point%, and fouling a ton. They are also focused on not allowing teams to drive on them to an extreme, as they are 3rd in the country at assisted field goals, while also limiting three-point shots. Offensive rebounding will be a key opportunity area for us to score on them.
Looking at the players:
Starters
CG, #25 6'2" Lu'Cye Patterson. A two-time transfer in his 5th year of college basketball, Patterson spent two years at Missouri St. and then two years at Charlotte before making his way back home to Minneapolis. He was a solid 3-point shooter (36.4%) the last two seasons in Conference USA, but has struggled this year at just 27%, though he is at 33% in conference play. He's a solid playmaker with a team-best 2.3:1 A/TO ratio, but can also score, as he's topped 20 points 4 times in conference play this year. He's not particularly efficient on offense though, averaging 13 points on 10.5 shots per game, but will shoot from anywhere on the court. He is also a great defensive rebounder for his size.
CG, #2 6'2" Mike Mitchell. Spent two years close to home at Pepperdine before transferring to the Gophers for the 2023-24 season. Up until this season, Mitchell had been a deadeye 3-point shooter, at 41.4%, however this year he is only shooting 34.1%, and 31.8% in conference play. Mitchell missed 7 games earlier this season, and the Gophers struggled greatly without him despite the fact that his numbers are down across the board from last season with the exception of fewer turnovers this year. Against us, in two games last season, Mitchell was...ok. In the Gophers OT win, he played all but 1 minute, scoring 10 points with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists and 3 turnovers. The second game, a blowout loss, he only scored 5 points with 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 assist and 1 turnover. He will likely spend the game hanging out at the 3-point line, where hopefully he will miss many shots.
Wing, #11 6'6" Femi Odukale. At his 4th school in as many years, Odukale has gone all across the country from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh to Newark to Las Cruces and now Minneapolis. At each stop, he has...generally had the same stats. Is he a significantly better player than when he was a Freshman at Pitt in the 2020-21 season? No, he's not. To be fair, he has made some improvements this year, and he does tend to play his best against top competition. Despite being a wing, he is their best passer (3.6/game), and despite shooting 2-18 from 3 in nonconference play, he's somehow figured it out and is 11-23 during conference play despite being a 54% FT shooter, though he's only averaging 8 points/game. As mentioned before, his main skill is defense, averaging 1.1 steals per game (2.2 in the last 6 games) and 1.1 blocks per game, though he has a tendency to get into foul trouble. He also scored 15 points on 4-4 shooting with 4 assists against 0 turnovers in their loss to PSU.
Stretch 4, #3 6'11" Dawson Garcia. The veteran of the squad, in his 3rd year with the Gophers, Garcia is playing the best basketball of his career in his 5th season, which should be scary. Last year, Garcia scored a whole lot of points against us. In the first game, he scored 20 on 5-14 shooting, but got to the line 11 times making 9, along with 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. In the blowout loss to us, Garcia scored 45% of their points, going off for 30 on 13-19 shooting, adding 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. He has struggled with scoring in 3 of the last 4 games, averaging just 10 points on 22% shooting, with 8 boards and 2 assists per game but 0 blocks. The other game in that run though was a monster game in their 3-point win against UCLA, where he scored 32 points with 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Prior to that stretch, he was averaging 21.2 points, with similar rebound and assist numbers, along with 1 block/game. As mentioned before, he can beat you in many ways, as a pick-and-pop 3-point threat, with midrange jumpers (shooting 50% in conference), or at the rim. He also rarely turns it over and is a monster rebounder. 3-point shooting has been his one weakness in conference play, as he is shooting just 30.7%.
PF/C, #23, 6'8" Parker Fox. Uh...from what I can tell, this is Parker Fox's...8th year in college? The guy graduated high school in 2017, he's older than Pete Nance and Boo Buie.
He apparently spent 4 years at a D2 school and graduated, then came to Minnesota, where he missed the next two seasons due to injury, but during that time completed his Masters degree?? Played what was generously described as his "redshirt senior season" last year, averaging 14 mpg. This year he's up to 19.4 mpg, though that's dropped to 18mpg in conference. He is not a 3-point threat at all, though is efficient at the rim on few opportunities. He is way down their list of scoring options, though he is the team's 2nd-best offensive rebounder, so his real value comes on defense. He is the team's best shot blocker and best thief, with 0.9 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, again in just 18mpg. He doesn't get a ton of usage on offensive though, and is also foul-prone, which limits his playing time, aside from his unicorn game against OSU where he scored 21 points.
Their personnel has largely remained the same since December 29th - their starting lineup is unchanged, they have two main reserves, and three other players who see time in some games. Dawson Garcia is the obvious headliner, and CG Lu'Cye Patterson is their 2nd-best player. They only have two players who would be considered "good" at 3-point shooting, and they take the 4th and 5th-most 3 pointers on the team. They have struggled offensively in general over their last 7 games, with the exception of their loss to Illinois where they were on fire offensively, but neglected to play any defense whatsoever, allowing 95 points in 62 possessions.
They play at an even slower tempo than we do, and are comfortable passing, passing, and passing some more until they find the shot they want, which is more often than not a 2-pointer. They shoot threes less frequently than we do, and are 14th in the conference at getting to the FT line (though we, of course, are dead last in allowing our opponents to get to the FT line, as well as dead last in getting there ourselves, imagine that...). In line with their slow tempo, they almost never look to get out in transition, but if they do, they generally like to try to get a 3-pointer on the run. In the half-court, they run their offense through Garcia, who rarely comes off the floor. They roll him off a PnR, post him up, have him set a pick and pop out for a 3, or just have him shoot a midrange jumper. They also tend to get a lot of scoring off of offensive rebounds. What they are not great at doing is hitting 3s, where they shoot just 31.3% against top-100 teams, 305th in the country. They also shoot just 55.0% at the rim, which is 263rd. They are best at midrange shots, which is still a pretty inefficient way of scoring.
On defense, they have two stalwart defenders in their starting lineup - Parker Fox and Femi Odukale. Both are top-15 in conference at blocking shots, despite standing at 6'8" and 6'6" respectively, and Fox is also top-10 in steals. Meanwhile Garcia is one of the best defensive rebounders in the country as well as being a decent shot blocker. Their biggest weaknesses on defense are defensive rebounding, opponent 3-point%, and fouling a ton. They are also focused on not allowing teams to drive on them to an extreme, as they are 3rd in the country at assisted field goals, while also limiting three-point shots. Offensive rebounding will be a key opportunity area for us to score on them.
Looking at the players:
Starters
CG, #25 6'2" Lu'Cye Patterson. A two-time transfer in his 5th year of college basketball, Patterson spent two years at Missouri St. and then two years at Charlotte before making his way back home to Minneapolis. He was a solid 3-point shooter (36.4%) the last two seasons in Conference USA, but has struggled this year at just 27%, though he is at 33% in conference play. He's a solid playmaker with a team-best 2.3:1 A/TO ratio, but can also score, as he's topped 20 points 4 times in conference play this year. He's not particularly efficient on offense though, averaging 13 points on 10.5 shots per game, but will shoot from anywhere on the court. He is also a great defensive rebounder for his size.
CG, #2 6'2" Mike Mitchell. Spent two years close to home at Pepperdine before transferring to the Gophers for the 2023-24 season. Up until this season, Mitchell had been a deadeye 3-point shooter, at 41.4%, however this year he is only shooting 34.1%, and 31.8% in conference play. Mitchell missed 7 games earlier this season, and the Gophers struggled greatly without him despite the fact that his numbers are down across the board from last season with the exception of fewer turnovers this year. Against us, in two games last season, Mitchell was...ok. In the Gophers OT win, he played all but 1 minute, scoring 10 points with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists and 3 turnovers. The second game, a blowout loss, he only scored 5 points with 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 assist and 1 turnover. He will likely spend the game hanging out at the 3-point line, where hopefully he will miss many shots.
Wing, #11 6'6" Femi Odukale. At his 4th school in as many years, Odukale has gone all across the country from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh to Newark to Las Cruces and now Minneapolis. At each stop, he has...generally had the same stats. Is he a significantly better player than when he was a Freshman at Pitt in the 2020-21 season? No, he's not. To be fair, he has made some improvements this year, and he does tend to play his best against top competition. Despite being a wing, he is their best passer (3.6/game), and despite shooting 2-18 from 3 in nonconference play, he's somehow figured it out and is 11-23 during conference play despite being a 54% FT shooter, though he's only averaging 8 points/game. As mentioned before, his main skill is defense, averaging 1.1 steals per game (2.2 in the last 6 games) and 1.1 blocks per game, though he has a tendency to get into foul trouble. He also scored 15 points on 4-4 shooting with 4 assists against 0 turnovers in their loss to PSU.
Stretch 4, #3 6'11" Dawson Garcia. The veteran of the squad, in his 3rd year with the Gophers, Garcia is playing the best basketball of his career in his 5th season, which should be scary. Last year, Garcia scored a whole lot of points against us. In the first game, he scored 20 on 5-14 shooting, but got to the line 11 times making 9, along with 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. In the blowout loss to us, Garcia scored 45% of their points, going off for 30 on 13-19 shooting, adding 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. He has struggled with scoring in 3 of the last 4 games, averaging just 10 points on 22% shooting, with 8 boards and 2 assists per game but 0 blocks. The other game in that run though was a monster game in their 3-point win against UCLA, where he scored 32 points with 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Prior to that stretch, he was averaging 21.2 points, with similar rebound and assist numbers, along with 1 block/game. As mentioned before, he can beat you in many ways, as a pick-and-pop 3-point threat, with midrange jumpers (shooting 50% in conference), or at the rim. He also rarely turns it over and is a monster rebounder. 3-point shooting has been his one weakness in conference play, as he is shooting just 30.7%.
PF/C, #23, 6'8" Parker Fox. Uh...from what I can tell, this is Parker Fox's...8th year in college? The guy graduated high school in 2017, he's older than Pete Nance and Boo Buie.
He apparently spent 4 years at a D2 school and graduated, then came to Minnesota, where he missed the next two seasons due to injury, but during that time completed his Masters degree?? Played what was generously described as his "redshirt senior season" last year, averaging 14 mpg. This year he's up to 19.4 mpg, though that's dropped to 18mpg in conference. He is not a 3-point threat at all, though is efficient at the rim on few opportunities. He is way down their list of scoring options, though he is the team's 2nd-best offensive rebounder, so his real value comes on defense. He is the team's best shot blocker and best thief, with 0.9 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, again in just 18mpg. He doesn't get a ton of usage on offensive though, and is also foul-prone, which limits his playing time, aside from his unicorn game against OSU where he scored 21 points.
