Iowa at GOPHERS
Three things to watch:
SENIOR FAREWELL – Richard Pitino's first full recruiting class with the Gophers four years ago consisted of guards Nate Mason and Carlos Morris, forwards Josh Martin and Gaston Diedhiou and center Bakary Konate. The five-player class wasn't highly rated at 64th nationally and ninth in the Big Ten by 247Sports.com. Martin, an explosive-dunking 6-foot-8 forward from Washington, lasted only seven games and averaged just 1.3 points and 1.2 rebounds before transferring to Cal Poly. Morris, a 6-5 junior college transfer from Florida, was kicked off the team in his second season in 2015-16. Mason, Diedhiou and Konate are the last remaining players from that 2014 class. Konate, a 6-11 Mali native, has started 35 games in his career, but he averaged just 2.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 114 games. Diedhiou, a 6-10 Senegal native, has been a rarely-used reserve averaging just 6.1 minutes in 55 career games. The only long-term impact player from Pitino's first full class has been Mason, who will go down as one of the Gophers' all-time great guards. The 6-2 two-time captain from Georgia enters Wednesday's game with 1,668 career points, which ranks seventh in team history. Mason has a chance to crack the program's top-five career scoring list by the end of the year. He also ranks second in career assists with 501. Not bad for an undersized, under-the-radar three-star prospect who played for three different high schools in four years. The Gophers are 2-2 on Senior Day under Pitino, including last year's 88-73 win against Nebraska in Akeem Springs' final home game.
MURPHY HATES IOWA – Minnesota turned out to be one the Big Ten's worst teams this year, but it still has arguably the best power forward in the league. Jordan Murphy's 16 points and 11 rebounds in Monday's loss at Wisconsin gave him the team's single-season double-double record, surpassing Mychal Thompson's 21 double-doubles from 1975-76. With two regular season games left, the 6-7, 250-pound junior is almost a lock to become the first Gopher player to lead the conference in rebounding since Trevor Mbakwe did it in 2013 (Mbakwe also did it in 2011). If the season ended Wednesday, Murphy's 11.4 rebounds per game would be the highest in the program since Thompson's 12.5 rpg in 1976. In a 94-80 loss Jan. 30 at Iowa, Murphy had 21 points and 17 rebounds. Murphy is averaging 19 points and 14 rebounds in three career games against the Hawkeyes, which includes last year's monster 25-point, 19-rebound performance in a 101-89 double-overtime win at the Barn.
THREE-POINT DEFENSE – During the Gophers' nine-game losing streak, they have allowed their opponents to shoot a staggering 40.4 percent from three-point range (80-for-198). It actually wasn't as bad as that number seems in each loss. Four opponents really skewed that percentage by hitting double-figure three-pointers against Minnesota. Michigan State and Wisconsin combined to shoot 26-for-51(50.9 percent) against the Gophers in the last two games. The Hawkeyes won their last meeting with Minnesota by knocking down 12-for-25 shots from beyond the arc, including Jordan Bohannon and Isaiah Moss combining for 36 points on 8-for-14 from the three-point line on Jan. 30. Pitino's team ranks 12th in the Big Ten in three-point shooting defense (37.8 percent) in league play. Meanwhile, Iowa is third in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage (38.3 percent). Bohannon leads all conference players with 115 threes in 16 league games.
GAME INFO
Time: 8 p.m. CT, Wednesday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Minnesota by 1.5. Series: Minnesota leads 99-88. Last meeting Gophers lost 94-80 at Iowa on Jan. 30, 2018. TV: Big Ten Network Online/Live video: BTN Plus Radio: 100.3 FM and 1130 AM
PROJECTED STARTERS
