Gophers at a glance: The Gophers (10-1) have one last game between them and an 11-day break during which the team will be taking finals. Minnesota's roll hasn't hit a hiccup since facing Duke (the Gophers' last loss) in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas on Nov. 22. Since then, the Gophers have gone on a six-game winning streak that has moved them up in the AP top 25 to No. 13, up a spot from a week ago and the highest ranking the team has had during the Tubby Smith era. The Gophers have four players averaging in double digits, and reserve forward Trevor Mbakwe is threatening to be the fifth. Mbakwe played 26 minutes against USC on Saturday, and was critical in battling with the Trojan bigs.

North Dakota State at a glance: Hand it to the Bison (8-2) -- they have been mostly taking care of business early on this season. NDSU's only losses came to No. 1 Indiana (87-61) and Wis.-Green Bay. NDSU has scored in the 90s twice this season and accumulated at least 83 points two other times. The most dangerous thing about the Bison might be their ability to make three-pointers, hitting 40.2 percent of them, while holding opponents to 28.5 percent. Mike Felt leads that charge with 30 three-pointers. Taylor Braun leads Bison scorers at 15.9 points per game.

AMELIA RAYNO