For the last three days, I've looked at stats for the starters and the bench, and how they've changed from the first six games, to the last. Finally, I thought I'd point out a few team trends.
Rebounds aren't suffering too badly. The Gophers – who averaged 36.7 in the first six games – are still grabbing 33.7 a game in the last split, despite playing just part of one of those games with Trevor Mbakwe. Opponents are grabbing just 0.5 more per game, meaning the ten rebounds Mbakwe averaged (before the last game in which he got hurt)– that were suddenly up for grabs – are getting snagged mostly on the Gopher end. Three-point shooting is going up. Production from behind the arc has gone from 33 percent to 38 from the first split to the second, and the Gophers have hit four more three-pointers overall in the last six games. In the last four games, the team's three-point average has swelled to 42 percent. Other changes:
- Blocks have gone from 5.3 a game to 6.3
- Steals have shrunk from 9.8 to 8 a game
- Turnovers have fallen, but not by much, going from 14.8 to 14.3 a game
- Personal fouls have gone down four a game, from 18.8 to 14.8
- Assists have risen from 15.2 to 17.5 a game
- The Gophers are scoring 66.3 points a game, after averaging 70.1 in the first split
