Gophers men's hoops forced to make starting lineup changes against Northwestern

FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:

Loewe playing point

First-year Gophers coach Ben Johnson had an extension of himself on the court with starting point guard Payton Willis this season.

Willis knew exactly his coach wanted on both sides of the floor – and helped the rest of the Gophers understand Johnson's system and philosophy.

But Willis is out for the first time this season Saturday afternoon with COVID-19 safety and protocols.

That means senior Luke Loewe will slide over from another starting backcourt spot to become Minnesota's floor leader against Northwestern. Senior Sean Sutherlin, the U's top scorer off the bench, also is expected to be in the starting lineup.

Willis, who averages 15.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and a team-best 4.3 assists, had struggled battling an illness in the last two games. He scored five points each in losses at Ohio State and Penn State, also shooting a 4-for-17 combined.

A 6-4 senior guard from Wisconsin, Loewe had been the Gophers most consistent perimeter player in the last several games, which included a season-high 19 points vs. Rutgers and at Iowa. The William & Mary transfer has scored in double figures in six of the last nine games.

Loewe, who played primarily a defensive stopper and facilitator role earlier in the season, ranks second on the team in assists (2.2) and fourth in scoring (8.2) overall.

On Feb. 9 at Nebraska, Loewe committed a season-worst five turnovers in a 78-65 loss, but he's only had one turnover and six assists in the last three games.

The Gophers also announced senior big man Eric Curry was a game-time decision Saturday after dealing with flu-like symptoms, but he's suited up and expected to play against the Wildcats.

Big game for Battle?

The Gophers played severely shorthanded before when three starters missed the Jan. 22 game against Rutgers, including leading scorer Jamison Battle.

Willis had a career-high 32 points and tied a school record with eight three-pointers in a 68-65 win against the Scarlet Knights at the Barn.

Battle was dealing with a non-COVID illness when he missed that game last month, but it will be an opportunity for him to return the favor with Willis out Saturday.

Battle's best game with the Gophers was 27 points in a Dec. 11 win at Michigan, but he has eight 20-point performances this season. His career-high was 29 points with George Washington against Duquesne during the 2020-21 season.

In his first season in the Big Ten, Battle's one of the top transfers in power conference basketball in the nation. The 6-7 sophomore leads the Gophers in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (6.2), while also shooting 37.3% from three-point range.

Battle will draw most of the defensive attention from Northwestern, so the Gophers will need other scoring options to emerge, including Loewe and senior E.J. Stephens.

Defensive consistency

Defense has to make a significant jump if the Gophers want to be competitive the rest of the season.

In the second half of the past two games, Ohio State and Penn State combined to shoot 61% from the field. But the Gophers shot just 29% combined after halftime.

Even in last 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 on the Gophers after shooting 58 percent in the second half Feb. 9, including 61% inside the arc. The Cornhuskers scored 40 points in the paint and 21 fastbreak points as well.

In a Feb. 6 loss, the Gophers allowed Iowa to shoot 52% in the second half, so there's been a downhill trend defensively for most of Big Ten 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 2-11 with opponents averaging 74 points per game, shooting 39.4% (104-for-264) from three-point range and 48.7% from the field (369-for-758).

Not surprisingly, Minnesota ranks 11th in scoring defense and 14th in three-point defense and field goal percentage defense in 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-6.3) overall and 355th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (18.2), 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 6.2 per game).

In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been greater at minus-8.7, last in the league.

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 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 (36-29) and Nittany Lions (36-26) finished with the rebounding edge in the last two road games.

GAME INFO

Time: 3 p.m. CT, Saturday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Minnesota 3.5-point underdog. Series: Minnesota leads the series 100-69, which includes winning 51-46 in Big Ten Tournament first round on March 10, 2021. TV: Big Ten Network. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: 100.3 KFAN

PROJECTED STARTERS

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

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 8.3

G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 10.3

G – Sean Sutherlin 6-5 200 Sr. 6.6

F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 16.4

F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 8.2

Key reserves– Charlie Daniels, F, 6-9, Sr., 1.7 ppg; Treyton Thompson, F, 6-11, Fr., 2.3 ppg.

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

Notable: Ten out 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.

NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (12-12, 5-10)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Boo Buie 6-2 Jr. 15.0

G – Julian Roper II 6-3 Fr. 3.7

G – Chase Audige 6-4 Jr. 10.9

F – Pete Nance 6-10 Sr. 14.7

F – Robbie Beran 6-9 Jr. 6.4

Reserves – Ty Berry, G, 6-3, So., 7.3 ppg; Ryan Young, C, 6-10, Jr., 9.3 ppg; Ryan Greer, G, 6-2, Sr., 4.5 ppg; Elyjah Williams, F, 6-7, Sr., 3.4 ppg; Casey Simmons, G, 6-6, Fr., 2.4 ppg.

Coach: Chris Collins 130-146 (9th season)

Notable: The Wildcats had three straight wins before falling to Illinois and Purdue in their past two games. Northwestern's Robbie Beran became the sixth different player to lead the Wildcats in scoring, with 13 points in a 70-64 loss Wednesday vs. Purdue. ... NU's leading scorer Boo Buie averaged 21 points on 51% shooting in the three-game win streak, which included a season-high 27 points against Nebraska. But Buie had just 19 points combined on 6-for-23 shooting in the last two games, going 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.

Fuller's score prediction (Picks record: 18-6): Northwestern 68, Gophers 65.