SWSiouxMN Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 UND dropped a decision to a newly minted D1 team in Dixie State. Now they head down to the Barn to take on a Gopher squad looking to make a name for themselves this year. About the Gophers: Last year was a tough situation for Minnesota. I could describe their season in one word: heartbreak. A team that finished 15-16 and 8-12 in the Big 10 and I use the word heartbreak? Yes. In the 2nd half of the season, they had many chances of getting that big win to make the NCAAs or at least be in the position to do so. Time after time however, they managed to fall just a little bit short. Lost at home to Iowa by 3, Maryland by 1, at Wisconsin by 2, at Indiana by 5. A few more wins might have people feeling different about Pitino and the team... but it wasn't in the cards. With Oturu going to the NBA, there was panic across the land. However... star guard Carr returned for another go. Then Pitino nailed a few key transers in Both Gach and Liam Robbins, both of which got the green light to play right away. Suddenly, the Gophers looked like a much better team on paper then they did a year ago. Of course, with COVID causing issues, it means that the Gophers have less time to gel this team together. Pitino needs to start to get some results on the table. His Big 10 record isn't very good, and his seat is still plenty warm. Can the Gophers make a charge in the rugged Big 10 this year? They certainly on paper look better, but its not all about the paper. About Richard Pitino (8th season at Minnesota: 130-108 record, 48-82 Big 10). Pitino has made it to his 8th season as Gophers coach. This despite only have 1 winning season in the Big 10 since he has come into the league. In a normal year, there would be pressure for Pitino to finally deliver on at least finishing above .500 and getting into the top half of the conference and making the NCAAs again or finally getting the axe. COVID of course has changed many things, including in the athletic department bean counters. The fact that they don't want to pay a buyout to coaches in the middle of a pandemic might give Pitino a 1 year break. However, it might be wise to put together a good season with this group, given the fact he won't have Carr next year more than likely. Key Player: Marcus Carr (6'2 195 Junior) The Junior guard begins his second season with the Gophers and has been absolutely on fire to start the season. In 3 games, he is nearly averaging 30 ppg! along with 5.3 rebounds and 5 assists. He is one of the better guards in the Big 10 and might start to get some national attention if he continues his white hot start. Is the competition he has faced that strong? No. However, you cannot dismiss the gaudy stats. He can do it all and he will be very hard for UND to handle. More than likely his last year in a Gopher uniform. Early Summit Thoughts: -SDSU knocked off Iowa State last night, they are looking very good and living up to top billing in the Summit. -Roos flattened 2 D2 opponents, then gave Kansas State a scare. Might be better than one thinks -USD and NDSU are both 0-3, both played their last opponents tough. Yotes play UMKC in non-conference match up so we will get to see where they stack up against each other. Keys: 1) House Money: No one is expecting UND to win this game, in fact it might get ugly early given how UND has played so far. The guys should come in with a house money mentality. Lay it all out there and give it your best shot. 2) Get better: Use this game to keep gelling as a team. Start building momentum towards the Dakota Showcase next week. Get Nero and Ihrenacho going as guards. Build off of your performances Sims and Sueker. Get Rebraca to have a monster game. 3) DAE: Will he be playing or will be waiting a week? If so, who will step up and fill his shoes in his absence, especially off of the bench. The Call: The Gophers appear to be a better squad from last year. They have had moments where they look pretty tough but have also had moments where they look pretty pedestrian. While I would like to think that this is another Nebraska game from last year, its not. Gophers are a far better team than that. Given that UND is still figuring things out, the Gophers should win this game pretty handily tbh, but I am looking for continued growth from the squad, and hey... anything can happen. Lets see if Rebraca can have another big game against the Gophers. Gophers 84-62 Where you can watch the game: Game will be on the Big Ten Network 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux Lite Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 God bless you SWSiouxMN. Love these writeups. Curious who your favorite newcomers are so far in this young season? Also SDSU looks like they could make a run in March to the sweet 16. They also barely lost to WVU ( a legit top ten team in the nation) Sioux Lite: Available wherever you listen to your podcasts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux Lite Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Campus is buzzin over what Ihenacho could turn into Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux24/7 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 24 minutes ago, Sioux Lite said: Campus is buzzin over what Ihenacho could turn into I love the potential of Tyree but I can’t imagine campus is buzzin too much about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux Lite Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 18 minutes ago, sioux24/7 said: I love the potential of Tyree but I can’t imagine campus is buzzin too much about it Hahahah you caught me. I guess just the circles I run with are excited, can't speak for the rest of campus tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxfan512 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 After watching the last two games, tonight could be a blood bath. Nevertheless, I will be pulling a second tv into the living room tonight to rock some basketball and hockey! I'm sure my wife is thrilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forksandspoons Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 The Gophers aren't very good IMO. However, after watching the first couple games, the Hawks have a longgggg way to go in order to give them a run for their money. Would need to play a perfect game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux24/7 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Currently UND is 22 point dogs. I’m not going to bet against UND but if I had to I’m taking the Gophers -22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Gameday preview: Gophers basketball vs. North Dakota 8 p.m. vs. North Dakota • Williams Arena • BTN, 100.3 FM UND led by a pair of 6-9 juniors Preview: The Gophers (3-0) will be coming down off an emotional high after Marcus Carr’s game-winning three-pointer with 2.9 seconds left Monday to beat Loyola Marymount 67-64. North Dakota (0-2) is led by 6-9 juniors Filip Rebraca and Mitchell Sueker, who combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds in a 74-73 loss to Dixie (Utah) State on Wednesday. The Fighting Hawks were 15-18 last season under first-year coach Paul Sather, but they won at Nebraska and also reached their first Summit League tournament title game, losing to rival North Dakota State. https://www.startribune.com/gameday-preview-gophers-basketball-vs-north-dakota/573285221/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 8 hours ago, Sioux Lite said: God bless you SWSiouxMN. Love these writeups. Curious who your favorite newcomers are so far in this young season? Also SDSU looks like they could make a run in March to the sweet 16. They also barely lost to WVU ( a legit top ten team in the nation) Sioux Lite: Available wherever you listen to your podcasts That's hard for me to say. I like what each one brings to the table. SDSU has a really good team.... but I have been burned the last two years thinking they were going to go far. They need to prove that they can win in Sioux Falls in March Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxScore Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 This is a Gopher team that should at minimum be a NCAA Tournament team. With a lot of new pieces they are still coming together a little bit but the talent is there. Marcus Carr had a very solid year last season and has come back improved. He is the best point guard in the B1G and one of the best in the country as well. The Gopher bigs have struggled through the first 3 games. Liam Robbins and Brandon Johnson have both been in a lot of foul trouble and with Robbins at times it seems like he is trying to force some things and live up to the hype that everyone heard about him in the offseason. There may be a couple other teams that Pitino has had that were more talented but this group has some depth to go along with that talent and should help to close out games better by giving the key guys a little more of a breather than they saw last year. There were many times last season where Carr, Kalscheur, and Oturu each played 38 out of a possible 40 minutes. Gophers have been going 10 deep in their regular rotation with Carr, Kalscheru, Gach, and Robbins starting each of the first 3 games and veteran Eric Curry starting the first two after returning from 2+ years of injuries. Curry was a guy who looked special his freshman season but has had his career derailed by injuries with two ACL tears. Grad transfer Brandon Johnson started the last time out for the Gophers and I'd guess he will stay in that spot. The Gophers will bring Freshman Jamal Mashburn JR off the bench at PG, SO Tre Williams, SO Isaiah Ihnen, JR Jarvis Omersa, and Curry off the bench as well. Minnesota did not play well at all Monday against LMU and I'd expect them to be ready to go tonight. I do not expect this one to be close and really hoping to get a long look at some of the bench guys for the Gophers tonight and that Gabe Kalscheur will find his shot and Liam Robbins looks a little more comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Same lineup as Wednesday Ihrenacho Nero Sims Sueker Rebraca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Ugh. Valpo and Purdue are running late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 I'm following stats until the game comes on Sims hit a 3 and Rebraca got a jumper 5-0 UND Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 UND off to an 8-2 start 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Rebraca jumper 10-5 UND Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Media UND 10 Minn 7 15:46 1st Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Purdue better win this game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux94 Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Damn we are missing the best part, by the time the game come on we'll probably be down 10. Would have been nice to have seen this fast start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmksioux Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 30 minutes ago, SWSiouxMN said: Same lineup as Wednesday Ihrenacho Nero Sims Sueker Rebraca Hate to be this guy, buts it’s Ihenacho..there is no r in his name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Just now, dmksioux said: Hate to be this guy, buts it’s Ihenacho..there is no r in his name. bah. my bad. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 After that great first game, G has bad back to back tough games. 2nd offensive foul it appears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Ihenacho jumper 12-7 UND Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Sueker 3 15-9 UND Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWSiouxMN Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 At least Purdue is going to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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