Big Ten tournament gameday preview: Gophers men's hoops vs. Penn State

GOPHERS GAMEDAY

7:30 p.m. vs. Penn State • Gainbridge Fieldhouse • Big Ten Network, 100.3 FM

Preview: The 14th-seeded Gophers (13-16, 4-16 Big Ten) play 11th-seeded Penn State (12-16, 7-13) on Wednesday to open the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. It's their third meeting this season. The Gophers defeated the Nittany Lions 76-70 on Feb. 12 at Williams Arena. Five days later, Penn State and Minnesota met again in State Collegewith the Nittany Lions winning 67-46, the largest margin of victory in the series. The Gophers have never lost to Penn State in four Big Ten tourney matchups, including in a 77-72 overtime win in 2019. The winner of Wednesday's game faces sixth-seeded Ohio State in Thursday's second round.

Players to watch: Senior big man Eric Curry returned from a shoulder injury to play in the regular season-ending 75-62 loss at Northwestern last Sunday. Curry scored a career-high 22 points in the win against Penn State at home this season. Nittany Lions senior John Harrar had 15 points and 17 rebounds in Sunday's loss against Rutgers. Harrar averaged 11 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games vs. Minnesota this year.

Numbers: The Gophers have won their opening Big Ten tournament game in four of the past five years, including for a third straight season after beating Northwestern 51-46 in 2021.