Today's game vs. UNC Wilmington tips at noon. Watch on Big Ten Network or listen live on 1500-a.m.

In today's Star Tribune: Minnesota power forward Joey King is the Gophers' hardest worker, toughest player, coach Richard Pitino says. Preview here.

Five things to watch today:

Lots of familiarity. Pitino worked with head coach Kevin Keatts under his dad, Rick Pitino. Assistant Casey Stanley worked at Minnesota under the younger Pitino last year, and the year before at Florida International. Don't be surprised if we see a lot of the same style on both ends of the ball -- the Seahawks like to run and press. Luckily for Minnesota, most times when the same style meets, talent wins out.

Andre Hollins. Pitino sounded very encouraged on Friday, reporting that Hollins -- who played despite a bit of turf toe on Monday -- was back to practice after the two days off for Christmas break. "He practiced and was good to go, so there wasn't any pain," the coach said.

A clean game? Today marks Minnesota's last non-conference game of the season and Pitino wants to go out on a good note. He mentioned defensive positioning as something he'd specifically like to improve on in this one. Of course, a clean game would also mean keeping the turnovers to a minimum and avoiding the foul trouble that has bothered the Gophers on and off through the last two months.

The elusive rebounds. Ah, and then there is the rebounding. Pitino is so unhappy with his team's efforts on the glass that he implemented block-out drills on Christmas Day and plans to keep it up until the players improve. Minnesota's production -- or lack of it -- on the boards has been the Gophers' biggest weakness so far and Pitino knows another bad showing could be a harbinger of bad news next week at Purdue.

Small forward spot. Pitino didn't seem very happy with what he saw from that position vs. Furman on Monday. Friday, the coach repeated that he still looks at JUCO transfer Carlos Morris -- who starts at the three spot -- like a freshman. "He still does a lot of things I'm not OK with out on the court," Pitino said. Like with any player, when Morris fails to communicate or block out, the coach likes to pull him. But backup Charles Buggs wasn't much of an apt replacement on Monday. He played just four minutes. "He was just not ready mentally to play, and he'll admit it," Pitino said. "So that's a bit of an issue for us. That's probably the one position I'm not totally comfortable with yet."