December 22, 2007

Santa Clara @ Minnesota - preview (breif)

Santa Clara has a long and storied basketball history. And by long and storied I mean they once had a massive 1st round upset. In 1993 future NBA MVP, Steve Nash led the Broncos over the #2 seeded Arizona Wildcats 64-41.

I have 2 major questions for tonight's game...

1. What will the starting lineup be? After struggling vs. South Dakota State and finishing the game with a lineup of....

PG-Nolen
SG-McKenzie
SF-Johnson
PF-Coleman
C-Tollackson

will that be the lineup we see starting? When Tubby calls me to ask my opinion I'll suggest to go with the lineup above. Others have suggested maybe starting Hoffarber but I like his spark off the bench. I hope we see a change starting now so this group can get a few games under their belt before the B10 opener.

2. Going into the game the obvious matchup worth watching was Tollackson vs. Bryant who is a 7'0" center averaging 19.7 pnts and 8.6 reb per game. In recent games Coleman has had the key matchup but tonight he'll need to continue his scoring like he has recently. Bryant is big, experienced and by all accounts talented.

  • DEFENSIVELY - I think Tollackson should be OK. I don't expect Bryant to have a monster night. The key here is rebounding. Spencer hasn't been a great rebounder this year but Bryant needs to be kept off the boards on every possession.
  • OFFENSIVELY - I don't think Tollakson will get many (if any) good scoring opportunities. But this will make Coleman's contribution very important. Let Bryant neutralize Tollackson but then Coleman has to get it done for the gophs inside.
I think this is a decent test. One we should clearly win, but Santa Clara is in a decent conference with the likes of Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Pepperdine. They should be better than any of our recent wins and should be the best team we face until UNLV.

I wish I could watch it but I am too cheap for the extra sports package. E-mail me if you want to donate to my ESPN U fund.

MINNESOTA - 76
Santa Clara - 65

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