Please check out my story on the manifestation of the new NCAA fouling rules, felt around the country.
Tonight's game will tip off at 8 p.m. Watch on Big Ten Network. Listen on 1500-a.m.
The Gophers might be playing a no-name opponent, heading into another long break for the holidays, but the style that Nebraska – Omaha brings to Williams Arena on Friday night could bring an interesting new challenge for Minnesota.
Comparatively, the pace at which the Mavericks play makes the Gophers look incredibly slow.
After finishing last season at No. 1 in the nation in tempo, Nebraska-Omaha lands at No. 8 while averaging 84.5 points a game. Minnesota, meanwhile, has talked about playing an up-tempo style, but is currently ranked just 261st in the country in that regard.
"They are one of the best offensive teams we will have played thus far," Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said. "They shoot quick. They probably average possessions, that last 14, 15 seconds. Very, very dangerous game. They were up on Iowa the whole game. They beat Nevada on the road, they lost at the buzzer to UNLV, at UNLV. So this is going to be a very tough test, defensively, for us.
"This team has been battle-tested. This team is not going to be, by any means, scared of us, they're going to come in here expecting to win."
Center Elliott Eliason said the Mavericks' style will pose "some unique challenges," and test the conditioning of the 2013-14 as well as their defense, which has been really good at times and really lax at others.
