Indiana hosts Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. CT tonight. Watch on BTN or listen live on 1500-a.m.

In today's Star Tribune: Even after a three-game winning streak this year feels much different from last year. Yet after topping Iowa, Minnesota has the exact same record through 12 conference games.

Four things to watch as the Gophers try to keep the streak going:

Good trends rising. Minnesota has now won three consecutive games (including its first conference road win of the year at Iowa) and three of the last four. Andre Hollins' tear won't stop -- he's averaging 21 points and 4.9 rebounds in his last seven games, and he's striking 54.7 percent from three-point range in that frame. The Gophers have turned their opponents over 33 more times than they've turned the ball over themselves in the last three. DeAndre Mathieu, who has 14 assists to two turnovers in the last five, has gotten back to taking care of the ball again. So, things are going pretty well. Can all the smiley faces and high fives continue?

Whose liability is worse? Indiana's defense is ranked 255th nationally in efficiency ratings according to analyst Ken Pomeroy's metrics, and the Hoosiers have by far the worst scoring defense, allowing 72.4 points per game. But they also have the league's top scoring offense (79.2 ppg) and one that ranks sixth nationally in efficiency. This has been a highly dynamic scoring bunch all season. Is the Gophers' improved defense good enough to deal with that kind of high-flying offense? Is the Gophers' offense strong enough to take advantage of the Hoosiers' lackluster defense? We haven't seen it in the last three, in which Minnesota has failed to shoot better than 44 percent from the field in any of the games -- and in two of them, the Gophers didn't reach the 40 percent mark.

Need for speed and close finishes. Unless you're stressed and desperate for Minnesota to continue its winning streak (you) or on a strict, file-at-the-buzzer deadline (me), tonight's game should be a blast to watch. Both teams like to run. Both like to shoot a lot of threes. Both are small and quick. And both teams play a lot of close games. This season, Indiana -- who is unbeaten at home in league play, by the way -- has a much better track record in close finishes than Minnesota does, going 5-1 in Big Ten games decided by two or fewer possessions. The Gophers are 2-6 in such games, but the two wins are the most recent. Indiana, meanwhile, is coming off its only loss in a two-possession game this year, a 68-66 loss at Maryland.

Yogi watch. Indiana point guard Yogi Ferrell is on a Hollins-like run these days -- in the last seven games, the junior is averaging 19.9 points, and in the last two, he's hitting 52 percent from beyond the arc (in the last three games, IU has made 45.5 percent of its three-pointers overall). He's coming off one of the best games of his career vs Maryland (23 points, five rebounds, six assists and no turnovers) but all season long, the floor general has proven to be more efficient than ever, even with dynamic high-scoring freshman James Blackmon Jr. sharing the backcourt and the possessions. Ferrell has benefitted from Blackmon's arrival via a raise in his assists, but at the same time, he's made more with the shots he gets -- his field goal percentage has gone up 3.3 percentage points, while his three-point shooting has gone up 3.9 percentage points. He'll be a big test for DeAndre Mathieu and Andre Hollins.