gophers gameday
7:30 P.M. at PURDUE • BTN, 1500-AM
Gophers at a glance: Minnesota will be without Andre Hollins (severely sprained left ankle) for its fourth consecutive game. Coach Richard Pitino all but ruled him out on Tuesday. The Gophers won their first game without the star guard after he went down in the opening seconds, with phenomenal all-around offense against Wisconsin. But Minnesota has dropped two seemingly winnable games since then — at Nebraska last week and against Northwestern on Saturday. Against the Wildcats, the Gophers played their slowest game of the season, with just 54 possessions, and allowed Northwestern to make six of 13 shots from three-point range. Austin Hollins appeared to bounce back from a recent slump against the Wildcats, finishing with 13 points and six rebounds.
Purdue at a glance: The Boilermakers weren't able to win at Williams Arena in January, and lately things have not been going much better. Purdue is coming off four consecutive losses, most recently at Penn State. In the past three, the Boilermakers have managed to lead for just under 9½ minutes. Starting senior Terone Johnson averages a team-high 12.8 points a game. … In their last meeting, Gophers center Elliott Eliason shut down center A.J. Hammons, with the 7-0 sophomore finishing with seven points and one rebound. Since then he has failed to score in double digits just once and has gotten fewer than seven rebounds just twice. … Purdue has won six in a row against the Gophers at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers are allowing 70.2 points a game, their most since 2005-06.
AMELIA RAYNO
