Gophers frontcourt will be focused on Louisville's Montrezl Harrell on Friday

Asked the matchup question that everyone was wondering, Minnesota's Joey King leaned forward in his seat.

Who would guard Montrezl Harrell, Louisville's 6-8, 240-pound tank?

"Me," King said, resolutely.

In a sense, King was correct. As the two projected starting power forwards, King and Harrell will be pitted against each other on Friday, when the Gophers tip off with No. 8 Louisville (6 p.m. CT; ESPN) in Puerto Rico. But containing Harrell, a preseason first team All-America is far more than a one-man job.

"He's as good as any frontcourt guy in the country," Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said on Monday. "We've all got to help on him ... the more bodies the better."

The all-hands-on-deck mentality is a bit more assuring these days.

The Gophers have a much more settled frontcourt than they did at this time last year -- with now-senior centers Mo Walker and Elliott Eliason each having big years in their own way (Walker as a low-post scorer and Eliason as a rebounding force and elite shot blocker) and King elevating his play at the end of the season, then packing on 15 pounds over the summer.

Still, dealing with junior Montrezl could be one of the toughest assignments all year.

As a freshman in 2013, the North Carolina native was just an energy reserve in Louisville's championship run. Last year, that role changed dramatically. After posting 12 double doubles, the sixth best field goal percentage in the nation (62 percent) and doubling his points and rebounds production from the previous season, Montrezl was named first team All-AAC and the conference's most improved player. Then, despite being a projected first round pick in the NBA draft, Montrezl surprised everyone -- including Richard Pitino, Rick likes to joke, his son having already agreed to the matchup -- and came back for another year of college.

Montrezl's potential to maintain the same sort of learning curve as he enjoyed after his first season is a scary thought. And word around Louisville is that he's already taken some notable steps.

Rick Pitino has told the local media that the big man has improved his ball handling and is capable of taking opponents off the dribble these days. And early scrimmages revealed that a summer's worth of work on his jump shot is paying off -- Harrell has added a 14-16-foot jump shot to his already lethal rebounding, shot blocking and low-post scoring potential.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge," King said. " I know he's got his mind set on the NBA draft next year, so he'll be wanting to put on a show. So it's important I do what I can to prepare and just take care of business."

The Gophers' success at slowing Harrell down could be the biggest determining factor of whether Minnesota wins or loses.

So consider the entire team on high alert to the beast under the basket.