Minnesota guard Payton Willis, left, looks to pass around Penn State guard Jalen Pickett during the second half an NCAA college basketball game Saturday Feb. 12, 2022, in Minneapolis. Minnesota won 76-70. (AP Photo/Craig Lassig) (Craig Lassig, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

GOPHERS MEN'S HOOPS AT PENN STATE

3 p.m., BTN and 1003. FM

FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:

Battle support

It didn't matter if the Gophers were playing on the road or at home, Jamison Battle was their most consistent player for the first half of the season.

You could count on the 6-7 sophomore forward to give you double figures scoring each night, which he did for 33 straight games dating back to last year at George Washington.

Lately, the Gophers have struggled to generate enough offense to keep them in games, especially on the road. They had their lowest scoring Big Ten game since 2012-13 in Tuesday's 70-45 loss at Ohio State.

Battle, who averages nearly 17 points, had 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting from the field against the Buckeyes. He certainly didn't have the worst shooting night of the starters. Luke Loewe led the Gophers with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting, but Payton Willis, Eric Curry and E.J. Stephens combined for just seven points on 3-for-21 shooting.

Willis was averaging nearly 19 points on 51 percent shooting from three-point range in his previous eight games, but he had just five points, five turnovers, and shot 2-for-11 Tuesday.

That broke a 10-game double figure scoring streak for Willis, who also had just his second game this season (0-for-4) without a three-point field goal.

It's not often Battle gets shut down, but that happened with eight points last Saturday against Penn State at Williams Arena. The Gophers still won 76-70 with the other four starters combining for 64 points, including senior big man Eric Curry's career-best 22 points on 10-for-19 shooting.

The Gophers might need another balanced offensive attack in Thursday's rematch against the Nittany Lions, who shot 55% from the field in their last meeting.

Taking care of the ball

The Gophers are ranked sixth in the nation with only 9.6 turnovers per game, but they've had at least 12 turnovers in three of the last four games.

Their 18 turnovers in last week's 78-65 loss at Nebraska seemed pretty uncharacteristic, but there had been a 28-turnover game in a Dec. 14 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the most for the program since 2007.

Iowa and Nebraska combined to score 45 points on 30 Minnesota turnovers in consecutive losses recently. And Ohio State scored 18 points on 13 turnovers Tuesday against Minnesota in Columbus.

Snapping a five-game losing streak last week against Penn State, the Gophers had 20 assists and only three turnovers. That included Willis looking like an All-Big Ten point guard with 18 points, 10 assists, and just one turnover in 40 minutes.

Defensive consistency

Defense has arguably been the Gophers' biggest weakness during Big Ten play this season.

Even in Saturday's win against Penn State, the Gophers allowed the Nittany Lions to score their second most points in conference play (70) and shoot 55% from the field, including 60% in the first half.

Nebraska hadn't won a Big Ten game all season going 0-12 before putting up 78 points last week on the Gophers after shooting 58 percent in the second half, including 61% inside the arc. The Cornhuskers scored 40 points in the paint and 21 fastbreak points that night.

In a Feb. 6 loss at Iowa, the Gophers allowed the Hawkeyes to shoot 52% in the second half, so there's been a downhill trend defensively for some time in conference play.

During the Gophers' 10-1 start this season they held opponents to 63.1 points per game, 24.8% shooting from three-point range, and 41% shooting from the field. Obviously, the competition wasn't outstanding as a whole, but they did have wins against Western Kentucky, Princeton, Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Mississippi State.

Since then, the Gophers are 2-10 with opponents averaging 74 points per game, shooting 38.9% (97-for-250) from three-point range and 48.3% from the field (341-for-706).

Not surprisingly, Minnesota ranks 11th in scoring defense, 13th in three-point defense, and 14th in field goal percentage defense in 13 Big Ten games this season.

Rebounding margin

The Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-3.6) last season under Richard Pitino – and they're even worse in Johnson's first year.

The Gophers are 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-6.1) overall and 354th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (18.6), per Kenpom.

Johnson's philosophy is to give up crashing the offensive boards to hustle back for transition defense, so that can skew the offensive rebounding numbers (league-low 6.3 per game).

In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been greater at minus-8.8, second-to-last in the conference. Only Nebraska is worse at minus-9.3.

In a loss to the Buckeyes last month, the Gophers were outrebounded 48-22, which included 27 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. That was the most offensive rebounds allowed since Iowa had 27 in a double overtime at Minnesota on Christmas Day 2020.

Curry's return from an ankle injury recently has helped the Gophers compete better on the glass. They've barely been beat overall in rebounding in losses at Wisconsin (33-32) and at Iowa (40-38). They also outrebounded Nebraska overall 37-34 but were beaten 36-21 on the glass against Penn State last Saturday. And the Buckeyes finished with a 36-29 rebounding edge on Tuesday night.

GAME INFO

Time: 3 p.m. CT, Thursday. Where: Bryce Jordan Center. Line: Minnesota 5.5-point underdog. Series: Minnesota leads the series 30-12, which includes winning 76-70 in Minneapolis on Feb. 12. TV: Big Ten Network. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: 100.3 KFAN

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (12-11, 3-11 in conference)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Payton Willis 6-4 195 Sr. 16.0

G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 10.5

G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 8.6

F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 16.5

F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 8.9

Key reserves– Sean Sutherlin, G/F, 6-5, Sr., 6.7 ppg; Charlie Daniels, F, 6-9, Sr., 1.7 ppg; Treyton Thompson, F, 6-11, Fr., 2.4 ppg.

Coach: Ben Johnson 12-10 (1st season)

Notable: 10 of Minnesota's 11 losses have been against teams in the NET's top 50, including seven games against currently ranked opponents. … 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, is nine months recovered and could be cleared to practice soon. But it still appears that both Fox and Ihnen will sit out this season.

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (10-12, 5-9)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Dallion Johnson 6-3 So. 2.7

G – Jalen Pickett 6-4 Sr. 12.6

F – Myles Dread 6-4 Sr. 6.2

F – Seth Lundy 6-6 Jr. 13.1

F – John Harrar 6-9 Sr. 10.5

Reserves – Sam Sessoms, G, 6-0, Sr., 11.6 ppg; Jameam Cornwall, G, 6-0, Sr., 2.7 ppg; Jalanni White, F, 6-8, Sr., 2.7 ppg.

Coach: Micah Shrewsberry 10-12 (1st season)

Notable: The Nittany Lions dropped seven of eight games before beating Michigan State, including three in a row after losing last Saturday at Minnesota. They lost by a combined nine points in losses to Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Gophers. Penn State hasn't lost at home to the Gophers since falling 95-84 in overtime in 2018. … Western Michigan transfer Greg Lee is still, who averages 7.8 points, is sidelined with a foot injury.

Fuller's score prediction (Picks record: 17-6): Penn State 67, Gophers 62.