Gophers and Illinois led by two of the nation's top transfers Jamison Battle and Alfonso Plummer
Pregame: The Gophers and the Illini face off Tuesday night not knowing where they would be without the two top scoring transfers in the Big Ten.
January 4, 2022 at 6:49PM
FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:
Transfers of power
The Gophers and the Illinois, who face off Tuesday night at Williams Arena, don't want to think about where they would be without transfers Jamison Battle and Alfonso Plummer this season.
Battle (George Washington) and Plummer (Utah) aren't just two of the top scoring transfers in the Big Ten but all of college basketball. In fact, they both were on ESPN's list last month of most impactful transfers so far in 2021-22, which includes Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe and Iowa State's Izaiah Brockington.
The biggest difference with Battle is that he's actually doing what is least expected from guys transferring up to the high major level. The 6-7 former DeLaSalle standout is playing better than he did at a lower level. Battle leads first-year coach Ben Johnson's team with 18.9 points per game, sixth in the Big Ten.
Battle's scoring average is third among all Division I transfers playing in the power conference and leads all players who transferred up from the mid-major level. Not bad.
Plummer has also been a major factor in replacing injured Illini point guard Andre Curbelo in the backcourt alongside Trent Frazier. He's averaging 17.3 points, which is fourth highest among all transfers this season playing among the six major conferences.
You can't mention Battle and the Gophers without also pointing out that Johnson and his staff built practically their entire seven-man rotation with transfers (only senior Eric Curry returned), including College of Charleston's Payton Willis, William & Mary's Luke Loewe, Lafayette's E.J. Stephens as starters and New Hampshire's Sean Sutherlin and Stephen F. Austin's Charlie Daniels off the bench.
Containing Kofi
The Gophers knew going into this season they would likely have a tough time holding their own against a loaded Big Ten in the post, including Illinois' 7-foot, 285-pound Kofi Cockburn, Purdue's 7-4, 290-pound Zach Edey and 6-10 Trevion Williams, Michigan's 7-2 Hunter Dickinson, Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Ohio State's E.J. Liddell.
Cockburn decided to return to Champaign after testing the NBA draft last summer because he wanted to cement his legacy as one of the Illini's all-time greats. He's making that case so far this season averaging 21.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.
You could argue he's even better than last season, but Cockburn still combined for 55 points and 19 rebounds in two victories against the Gophers by an average of 29 points.
A year ago, the Gophers relied on 7-footer Liam Robbins, the Big Ten's top shot blocker, to battle Cockburn basically on his own. Robbins, who has been out all season with a foot injury, transferred to Vanderbilt.
Now that responsibility falls on the 6-9, 245-pound Curry, a sixth-year senior. Curry is a savvy veteran who has gone through the Big Ten gauntlet of big men before, but he won't be asked to go to battle in the paint alone.
The Gophers learned the hard way they can't matchup 1-on-1 with a dominant post presence when Pittsburgh's John Hugley had 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 54-53 win on Nov. 30. Curry and Daniels were both in foul trouble.
Facing formidable post threats after that game turned out much more favorable for the Gophers. Mississippi State's Tolu Smith finished with just seven points on 3-for-9 shooting in Minnesota's 81-76 win on Dec. 5. Michigan's Dickinson had just five of his 19 points in the second half of a 75-65 win Dec. 11 in Ann Arbor.
Few turnovers
The Gophers have the oldest and most experienced backcourt in the Big Ten, so they've been able to lean on that to take care of the basketball.
There was an aberration with a season-high 28 turnovers (most since 2007) in a 79-71 win Dec. 14 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus-Christi. They're averaging just 8.0 turnovers this season if you take away that game, but they rank 12th nationally with 9.8 turnovers through 11 games overall.
Fifth-year seniors Willis, Loewe and Stephens have played in 353 games combined in their career, including 203 starts. That experience translates to knowing how to stay poised in even the most pressured moments.
It helps to also play a slower pace. Johnson's team ranks 244th nationally in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood had a much more up-tempo team last season but playing through Cockburn and the lack of depth with injuries forced him to slow down. The Illini dropped from 79th to 170th in adjusted tempo from last season. They also rank just 291st nationally forcing opponents to just 11.4 turnovers per game.
Bench opportunity
When the Gophers game was canceled on Dec. 29 due to COVID-19 issues with Alcorn State that wiped out the last warmup game before Big Ten play resumes.
No longer will freshmen Treyton Thompson and Abdoulaye Thiam get an opportunity to rack up experience before everything gets tougher in conference play.
Sutherlin, the team's sixth-man, will be able to give the Gophers a potential double-digit scorer off the bench, but they will likely need another offensive spark at some point. Where will that come from?
The Gophers rank last among all 358 Division I teams in bench minutes percentage (14.5), per Kenpom.com.
Sutherlin and Daniels, among the six seniors in the rotation, average a combined 31.1 minutes off the bench. But Daniels has scored more than one field goal just once in 11 games this season.
The Gophers finally played the 7-foot Thompson more at the end of nonconference play. The former Alexandria and LaLumiere School big man scored his first career point against Corpus Christi in six minutes on Dec. 14 after not playing for four straight games. He also played three minutes on Dec. 22 against Green Bay. Thiam had two points and 10 minutes combined the last two games.
GAME INFO
Time: 6 p.m. CT, Tuesday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Illinois 7-point favorite. Series: Illinois leads the series 117-66 after the 94-63 win on Feb. 20, 2021, in Minneapolis. TV: FS1. Online/Live video: FoxSports app. Radio: 100.3 KFAN
PROJECTED STARTERS
MINNESOTA GOPHERS (10-1, 1-1 conference)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Payton Willis 6-4 195 Sr. 16.3
G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 11.0
G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 7.7
F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 18.9
F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 8.1
Key reserves– Sean Sutherlin, G/F, 6-5, Sr., 8.6 ppg; Charlie Daniels, C/F, 6-9, Sr., 1.3 ppg.
Coach: Ben Johnson 10-1 (1st season)
Notable: Sutherlin returned from missing one game with a knee injury to play in the Big Ten opening 75-67 loss Dec. 8 against Michigan State. Sutherlin has been an offensive spark off the bench this year. His best performance was leading the Gophers with 19 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field and seven rebounds in the Nov. 19 win against Purdue Fort Wayne. The New Brighton, Minn., native scored the most points (44) combined in consecutive games off the bench since former Gophers guard Isaiah Washington during the 2017-18 season … Junior forwards Parker Fox (Northern State transfer) and Isaiah Ihnen are sidelined indefinitely after offseason knee surgery. Fox, who tore his ACL and MCL in late March, could possibly be cleared to play in the Big Ten season. But it still appears that both Fox and Ihnen will sit out this season.
ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (9-3, 2-0 conference)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Trent Frazier 6-2 175 Sr. 11.7
G – Alfonso Plummer 6-1 180 Sr. 17.3
G – Da'Monte Williams 6-3 215 Sr. 3.6
F – Jacob Grandison 6-6 210 Sr. 12.8
C – Kofi Cockburn 7-0 285 Jr. 21.8
Reserves – Coleman Hawkins, F, 6-10, So., 8.4 ppg; R.J. Melendez, G, 6-7, Fr., 3.8 ppg; Luke Goode, F, 6-7, Fr., 3.3 ppg; Omar Payne, C, 6-10, Jr., 1.6 ppg.
Coach: Brad Underwood 189-86 (9th season)
Notable: The Illini started the season ranked as high as No. 10 in the country before getting off to a 2-2 start following losses to Marquette and Cincinnati. But Cockburn returned from a three-game suspension. And Illinois turned the season around with seven wins in the last eight games, including 88-63 on Dec. 22 against Missouri. … Underwood said Monday that 10 players tested positive for COVID-19 when his team took a recent pause, which included canceling the Dec. 29 game against Florida A&M and postponing Sunday's matchup at Minnesota. … Curbelo, a preseason All-Big Ten guard, continues to be sidelined with an undisclosed injury that has had him sidelined the last eight games, but "he's progressing," Underwood said this week.
Fuller's score prediction (Picks record 8-3): Gophers 78, Illinois 74.
Minnesota, ranked first in the nation, dealt with injury and absence against No. 3 Michigan State.
