Sophomore sensations meet again Sunday with Gophers' Jamison Battle against Iowa's Keegan Murray

FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:

Sophomore sensations

The Big Ten's sophomore class is one of the best ever with Iowa's Keegan Murray and Minnesota's Jamison Battle matching up Sunday as part of that talented fraternity.

Sophomores make up half of the top eight scorers in the league this season, but Murray leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth nationally at 22.3 points per game.

"He's so efficient," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. "Because of his size and his length he's able to get clean looks. And that's what you worry about because he's a [big-time] scorer. … We're going to have thrown different things at him. Throw different people at him."

The smooth and athletic 6-8 forward had 25 points and 10 rebounds in the Gophers' 81-71 loss to the Hawkeyes on Jan. 16 in Minneapolis, but he's struggled since that night.

Murray's averaging 15.8 points on 34.5% shooting from the field in the last four games, which ended up being three losses during that stretch.

In the last meeting with Iowa, Battle had 20 points and eight rebounds, including 12 points in the second half, but he's actually played better away from home this season.

The Big Ten's sixth leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, Battle's averaging 19 points and 7.6 rebounds on 50% shooting from the field in seven games away from the Barn.

In his first Big Ten road game, the 6-7 George Washington transfer exploded for 27 points in a Dec. 11 win at Michigan, including 21 points in the second half. The Gophers might need a repeat performance of that caliber to win in Iowa City for the first time since 2015.

Getting healthier

The Gophers found out the morning of the last game against Iowa they would be down two assistants and three players due to COVID-19 protocols and injury, including without starting big man Eric Curry and sixth-man Sean Sutherlin.

Senior Charlie Daniels started four of the last five games for Curry, who was recovering from an ankle injury. But Curry and Sutherlin are both back for the rematch against the Hawkeyes on Sunday.

Sutherlin had 12 points in a 75-64 loss against Ohio State last week, but he had just four points combined in the last two games, including going scoreless in Thursday's 88-73 loss against No. 4 Purdue. The 6-5 senior has been slowly getting back to form since missing the Iowa game.

Curry, who had eight points and six rebounds in 34 minutes last Sunday's 66-60 loss at Wisconsin, was averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in Big Ten play before the injury.

The Gophers didn't start Curry against the Boilermakers with his ankle still not 100 percent healthy, but he should return to the starting lineup Sunday at Iowa.

Rebounding margin

The Gophers are 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-7.5) overall and 356th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (18.4), per Kenpom.

Johnson's philosophy is to give up crashing the offensive boards to hustle back for transition defense, so that can skew the offensive rebounding numbers (league-worst 7.0 per game).

In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been significant at minus-10.4, worst in the conference.

In a loss to the Buckeyes last month, the Gophers were outrebounded 48-22, which included 27 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. That was the most offensive rebounds allowed since Iowa had 27 in a double overtime loss at Minnesota on Christmas Day 2020.

Curry's return has helped the Gophers compete better on the glass against Wisconsin 33-32, but they were outrebounded 39-23 against Purdue on Thursday.

Three and D

Last season, the Gophers shot a program-low 28.4% from three, but they've made a jump to 36.2% this season. They're also better at three-point defense holding opponents to 30% shooting, ranking second overall in the Big Ten.

In the Dec. 11 upset in Ann Arbor, the Gophers held the Wolverines to 3-for-18 shooting from beyond the arc. But they've allowed opponents to shoot 38% (73-for-192) from long distance in the other nine games.

On the opposite end, the Gophers are shooting 34.5% from beyond the arc in Big Ten games, which skewed with a 13-for-24 game from long distance against Rutgers

Gophers senior guard Payton Willis, who tied a school-record with eight threes against Rutgers, leads the Big Ten in three-point accuracy overall at 42.7 percent. Battle, the U's leading scorer, ranks fourth in the league at 37.6% from three overall.

The Hawkeyes have the Big Ten's all-time three-point field goal leader, Jordan Bohannon, on their roster, but surprisingly rank 14th in three-point shooting in Big Ten games at 30.8% entering Sunday. Bohannon shot 43.6% from three in conference play last season, but he's struggled at 25.5% in 10 Big Ten games in 2021-22.

GAME INFO

Time: 3:30 p.m. CT, Sunday. Where: Carver Hawkeye Arena. Line: Iowa 11.5-point favorite. Series: Minnesota leads the series 102-92 but dropped the last game 81-71 in Minneapolis on Jan. 16, 2022. TV: BTN. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: 100.3 KFAN

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (11-8, 2-8 in conference)

G – Payton Willis 6-4 195 Sr. 16.7

G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 11.3

G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 7.5

F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 17.8

F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 8.3

Coach: Ben Johnson 11-8 (1st season)

Notable: The Gophers have beaten a top-five opponent the past two seasons at the Barn. They beat No. 4 Iowa 102-95 in double overtime last season and won 84-71 against No. 3 Ohio State in 2019-20. … Junior forwards Parker Fox (Northern State transfer) and Isaiah Ihnen are sidelined indefinitely after offseason knee surgery. Fox, who tore his ACL and MCL in late March, is nine months recovered and could be cleared to practice soon. But it still appears that both Fox and Ihnen will sit out this season.

IOWA HAWKEYES (14-7, 4-6)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Joe Toussaint 6-0 190 Jr. 5.6

F – Patrick McCaffery 6-9 200 So. 11.1

F – Keegan Murray 6-8 225 So. 22.3

F – Filip Rebraca 6-9 230 Sr. 6.3

Reserves – Tony Perkins, G, 6-4, So., 6.7 ppg; Kris Murray, F, 6-8, So., 10.5 ppg; Payton Sandfort, F, 6-7, Fr., 4.9 ppg; Ahron Ulis, G, 6-3, So., 3.7 ppg; Connor McCaffery, G, 6-5, Sr., 1.7 ppg.

Coach: Fran McCaffery 481-336 (26th season)