Read my story on Elliott Eliason and Mo Walker, and their friendly competition this season, in today's Star Tribune.
In Sunday's practice, Gophers coach Richard Pitino slacked off a little.
Well, with the officiating.
Everything else was more intense than ever, point guard DeAndre Mathieu said.
This afternoon (1:30 CT tip-off, BTN, 1500-AM), the Gophers, who are now 0-1 in the Big Ten after dropping their opener to Michigan on Thursday, face Purdue in their second league game of the year. They're expecting a battle.
"[Coach] said they're going to be one of the most physical teams we play against," Mathieu said.
So Pitino had them practicing as such -- conducting rebounding drills over and over, and going through offensive drills while being heavily and intensely guarded, while calling fewer fouls than usual.
As it was, Mathieu, who came to Minnesota from Central Arizona College, noticed a big change in the physicality against Michigan, his first Big Ten game. The 5-9 guard's shot was blocked several times by the Wolverines, including a dunk attempt that was easily tossed by Glenn Robinson III. Against Purdue, which blocks shots at the 24th best rate in the country, according to kenpom.com, those challenges only become greater. Center A.J. Hammons is the third best shot-blocker in the country, and is coming off an 18-point, 16-rebound game against No. 3 Ohio State on Dec. 31. That means the Boilermakers have also had more time to prepare for Minnesota, which has the opportunity of starting off the year with a pair of games at home.
