Mount St. Mary's at Gophers
THREE THINGS TO WATCH:
Inside presence – The Gophers could have one of the best frontcourts in the Big Ten, if Reggie Lynch, Jordan Murphy and Eric Curry keep making their presence felt by dunking, blocking and controlling the boards in nonconference play. They combined for 37 points, 24 rebounds and five blocks in Monday's win against Texas-Arlington. In the opener against Louisiana-Lafayette, Lynch, Curry and Murphy had 25 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks. Last season, Minnesota's lone inside presence was Murphy, who averaged 11 points and eight rebounds with nine double-doubles. His scoring numbers are currently down, but there's less pressure for him to carry the load every night. Good sign? Murphy shot 2-for-9 from the field, but he had his first double-double on Monday with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Sticking with seven – Remember when Tubby Smith used a platoon system with 10 players substituting in and out. Well, after two games, Richard Pitino has made it clear he is most comfortable with a seven-man rotation. Nate Mason, Dupree McBrayer, Amir Coffey, Murphy and Lynch started both games. Akeem Springs and Eric Curry were the first two players off the bench. Only foul trouble forced Pitino to play either Michael Hurt, Ahmad Gilbert or Bakary Konate. The difference between Springs' minutes (19.5) and the next closest player below (Hurt's 6.5 minutes per game) is pretty significant. Settling on a smaller rotation this early can help build chemistry and confidence. But it also can frustrate some players and possibly keep them from developing. This is a tough call. I'd expand it to at least eight players.
Three-point defense – Now that Minnesota's a better rebounding team (won battle of boards 47-32 against Arlington), the biggest area of concern defensively is probably guarding the perimeter. Arlington took a 41-35 halftime lead Monday night after hitting 9-for-18 three-pointers in the first half. Pitino's team used a 28-3 run to come from behind and win. A halftime adjustment of doing more switching on screens helped the Gophers allow only 1-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. That might not happen again this season, but other opponents will continue to shoot from deep. The Mountaineers aren't a great three-point shooting team (34.1 percent) this season.
GAME INFO
Time: 7 p.m. CT, Wednesday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: none Series: Gophers lead 2-0; won last meeting, 85-56, at home in 2011. TV: None. Online/Live video: BTN Plus, BTN2go app. Radio: 1500-AM.
PROJECTED STARTERS
