3 keys to the Minnesota Gophers beating Central Michigan and how to watch

The barn

MON AT 19.00

B1G+

Central Michigan

Central Michigan Chippewas

Record: 3-2
KenPom rank: 202

No rest for Gopher hoops as they kick off a busy week of action with a home game against Central Michigan. The Chippewas have had a strange season. They played #15 Marquette to single digits, but also lost at home to a bad Stony Brook team. They have since won back-to-back games, seem to be playing well on the road and come to The Barn looking for a win.

KEYS TO A GOPHER WINNER

We all know what the big key is – The offense has been so bad for Minnesota. Their effective field goal % is 259th nationally and 3pt shooting % is 294. They have been unable to run an effective offense and they can’t make threes. One guy is responsible for 40% of their points, so you can imagine how bad those numbers would be if it weren’t for Dawson Garcia.

Box Out– Again we are facing a team that has been quite good at offensive rebounds. The Chippewas are making 34% of their own missed shots, 87th nationally. Defensively, Minnesota is 232nd nationally in rebounding. Not a good recipe.

Get to 65 points – Central Michigan’s offense isn’t very good either. Mostly, I wanted to see the Gophers hit 60 because they haven’t in over 2 weeks. But I also think that getting to 65 will be enough.

FORECAST

Minnesota’s defense has been pretty good this season and I don’t see the Chippewas exploding for too many points. I’m still hoping to see someone (or someones) on the offense start to get comfortable and take some pressure off Garcia. But I will be surprised.

Garcia will dominate, Minnesota will sneak out a win.

Minnesota – 68th
Central Michigan – 61st