gophers/ncaa

Few coaches are as stubborn as Tubby Smith when it comes to making changes in his starting lineup. The Gophers men's basketball coach has started the same five players in every Big Ten game this season.

But Minnesota's recent struggles and a matchup tonight against a Michigan team that's equally desperate to enhance its NCAA tournament résumé have erased the status quo. After using a starting lineup of Colton Iverson, Ralph Sampson III, Damian Johnson, Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen throughout the Big Ten season, Smith said Wednesday he is contemplating lineup changes to get his struggling team back on track.

A Jan. 15 overtime victory at Wisconsin gave Minnesota a four-game winning streak. The Gophers have since lost five of eight games.

Devoe Joseph, Blake Hoffarber and Paul Carter -- who have led the Gophers individually in scoring for the past three games -- were all mentioned as possible starting lineup replacements against Michigan.

Minnesota -- no longer a lock for an NCAA bid -- needs to win the majority of its final five games to enter the Big Ten tournament with a feeling of security. A loss at Michigan, a team also on the NCAA tournament bubble, would put the Gophers in a difficult spot.

"We haven't made the plays at the end of the game, so that's probably where we're going to address a lot of the changes, I would think -- who needs to be in the game at those critical times," Smith said.

Michigan is also struggling, going 3-7 in its past 10 games after pulling off huge upsets against UCLA and Duke in the nonconference season.

"If you can play well enough to beat [Minnesota] that certainly helps your situation for a selection at large," Michigan coach John Beilein said.

That's assuming the Gophers don't beat themselves, which has happened too much of late. Here's a list of some of Minnesota's major problems:

• Turnovers: The Gophers have had more trouble handling the ball lately than a Vikings quarterback in the playoffs. Their Big Ten record when they have more turnovers than assists: 3-6. They have averaged 17.7 turnovers in their past four games.

• Opponents' scoring runs: The Nittany Lions launched a 17-7 run that put the Gophers on their backs Saturday. Losses against Purdue, at Michigan State and at Ohio State featured opponent's runs of 14-4, 17-0 and 17-7, respectively, that changed the dynamic of those games. The Gophers have to find a way to interrupt those momentum-building rallies.

• Scoring imbalance: The past three games for the Gophers have been one-man offensive shows: Hoffarber scored 19 points at Ohio State on Feb. 7, Carter produced 22 points against Indiana in The Barn on Feb. 10 and Joseph put up 23 Saturday at Penn State.

In those three games, players who didn't lead the Gophers in scoring went 43 for 124 (34.6 percent) from the field.

• Veterans struggling: The Gophers are predominately a young team that looks to its veterans in tough stretches. Johnson and Westbrook, both juniors, have been Minnesota's top scorers this season. Minnesota is 3-1 in conference play when Johnson and Westbrook score in double figures. But in the past four games, the duo that averages 21.2 points per game overall has accounted for a combined 38 total points (9.5 points per game).

"Westbrook and I can't play like we played the last couple of games, so I think we have go out and be focused a little more," Johnson said.