Conference Tourney Time

So I missed any pre or post game coverage of the Northwestern domination (thank you Mr. Westbrook). Here is a box score widget for you...


It is nice to see that we only had 10 turnovers as that has been a problem for us lately. And we outrebounded the Wildcats giving up only 2 offensive rebounds. Apparently the football pads in practice paid off. Getting to shooters on the defensive end will have to improve or IU will kill us inside and out.

Next up is Indiana. The Hoosiers are not a great match up for us because of their balance and athleticism. Teams with athletic players like Gordon, Ellis, Crawford, etc. are just bad for us as we are not an overly athletic team.

Obviously if we don't play a full 40 min game we will exit the B10 Tourney through the NIT door.

I do not believe in the adage that "it's tough to beat a team three times." So we DON'T have that going for us. Unless the teams are relatively equal the team that is 2-0 is usually 2-0 for a reason. Indiana is a better team and this should be a W for them.

What we can hope for is the Hoosiers will be as disinterested as they have been since the Sampson firing resignation. If you throw out their 14 point win over Minnesota they have been very average since the Purdue win.

Let's also hope that the 1st half ugliness we witnessed yesterday can be chalked up to "looking past" Northwestern. This group of Gophers is not known for their mental toughness so looking past a team they had beaten twice is very plausible. They will need to come out and apply pressure for 40 minutes. Can they cause turnovers that they turn into points? Can they regain their man-to-man pressure that kept them in games against Indiana and Michigan State in January?

I give us about a 20% chance to win, but it wouldn't be the biggest shocker of the year.

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Let's all root for Georgia today. We could possibly see the highest rated NIT game in the last decade if Minnesota were to face Kentucky in Madison Square Garden.