Gophers frontcourt struggling to compete and stay healthy going into regular-season finale

GOPHERS MEN'S HOOPS AT NORTHWESTERN

FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:

Curry back from another injury

Big Ten frontcourts have been wreaking havoc on the Gophers this season, but it also hasn't helped that they've struggled to stay healthy.

Senior Eric Curry has been Ben Johnson's only inside presence this season. The sixth-year big man at his best had career-high scoring games of 22 points against Penn State and 19 points against Michigan State earlier in league play.

Curry's averaging a career-best 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds this season, but he's coming off his fourth missed game this season Wednesday at Maryland. After a sprained ankle sidelined him last month, he was dealing with a shoulder injury before sitting out against the Terrapins.

The 6-9, 240-pound captain is showing his toughness and will start Sunday at Northwestern in his last regular season game, but it's uncertain how impactful Curry can be for the Gophers.

Fellow senior Charlie Daniels replaced Curry in the starting lineup for the fourth time this season, but he produced no points, one rebound and three fouls in only 14 minutes at Maryland. Daniels also tweaked his ankle in the second half that night.

In the second half Wednesday, Johnson decided to go with a smaller lineup with 6-7, 225-pound sophomore Jamison Battle at center and 6-5, 205-pound senior Sean Sutherlin playing power forward.

Battle was a tough matchup extending the defense with his shooting range and finished with a career-high 39 points on 7-for-16 shooting from beyond the arc. Sutherlin tied guard E.J. Stephens with a team-high eight rebounds, but he fouled out with four points in 29 minutes.

The Gophers were outscored 46-16 in points in the paint against Maryland. That's been a reoccurring theme. In the two previous losses, Indiana (34-20) and Wisconsin (36-20) dominated Minnesota inside.

Three-point threat

The Gophers were trailing by 27 points in the second half last Sunday against Indiana when suddenly pride kicked in, but also their ability to sink three-pointers.

In the second half, the Gophers drilled nine of 14 threes to cut it to three points before falling 85-79 in their final home game.

Three players accounted for Minnesota's entire three-point barrage. Senior Payton Willis had 28 points on 7-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. E.J. Stephens had 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three. And Battle had 13 points on 3-for-10 from deep.

Last season, the Gophers shot a program-low 28.4% from three-point range, but they've made a jump to 37.2% overall and 36.9% in league games this season, both ranked third in the Big Ten.

The Gophers' best three-point performance previously this season was going 13-for-24 in a Jan. 22 win against Rutgers. Willis had a career-high 32 points on 8-for-13 shooting from three in that game.

Willis leads the Big Ten in three-point accuracy overall at 43.2% and ranks tied for second in threes made per game (2.6). Stephens is shooting 39.4% from three this season. Battle, the U's leading scorer at 17.3 points, ranks tied for second in the Big Ten in three-pointers per game (2.6) and shoots 37.0% overall from three.

Rebounding margin

The Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-3.6) last season under Richard Pitino – and they're even worse in Johnson's first year.

The Gophers are 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-6.3) overall and 356th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (17.8), 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-low 6.2 per game).

In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been greater at minus-8.3, ranks last 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 at Minnesota on Christmas Day 2020.

Battle leads the Gophers with 6.3 rebounds per game. He and Brandon Johnson's team-high 6.3 rebound average last season are the lowest to lead the Gophers since 2011-12.

The Gophers outrebounded Nebraska 37-34 on Feb. 9, but they've been beaten on the boards in six of the last seven games since then, including five games by double digits.

Defensive consistency

Defensive struggles have plagued the Gophers throughout the Big Ten season.

Their best performance recently was holding Northwestern to 37 percent shooting from the field, including 7-for-21 from three in a 17-point win at the Barn last month.

But in the second half of Minnesota's last two road games, Ohio State and Penn State combined to shoot 61% from the field. But the Gophers shot just 29% combined after halftime.

Even in a Feb. 12 win vs. Penn State at home, the Gophers allowed the Nittany Lions to score their second most points in conference play (70) and shoot 55% from the field, including 60% in the first half.

Nebraska hadn't won a Big Ten game all season going 0-12 before putting up 78 points on the Gophers after shooting 58 percent in the second half Feb. 9, including 61% inside the arc. The Cornhuskers scored 40 points in the paint and 21 fastbreak points as well.

In a Feb. 6 loss, the Gophers allowed Iowa to shoot 52% in the second half, so there's been a downhill trend defensively for most of Big Ten play.

Minnesota's last two home opponents, Wisconsin and Indiana shot 51% and 53% from the field, respectively. In fact, the Hoosiers shot 58% from the field in the second half Sunday.

During the Gophers' 10-1 start this season they held opponents to 63.1 points per game, 24.8% shooting from three-point range, and 41% shooting from the field. Obviously, the competition wasn't outstanding as a whole, but they did have wins against Western Kentucky, Princeton, Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Mississippi State.

GAME INFO

Time: 6:30 p.m. CT, Sunday. Where: Welsh Ryan Arena. Line: Minnesota 7.5-point underdog. Series: Maryland leads the series 101-69, which includes 77-60 win on Feb. 19 at Williams Arena. TV: BTN. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: 100.3 KFAN

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (13-15, 4-15 in conference)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Payton Willis 6-4 200 Sr. 16.1

G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 8.7

G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 10.5

F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 17.3

F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 7.8

Key reserves – Sean Sutherlin, G, 6-5, Sr., 7.1 ppg; Charlie Daniels, F, 6-9, Sr., 1.5 ppg; Treyton Thompson, F, 6-11, Fr., 2.1 ppg.

Coach: Ben Johnson 13-15 (1st season)

Notable: Twelve out of Minnesota's 15 losses have been against teams in the NET's top 50, including seven games against currently ranked opponents. ... The Gophers have to win Sunday to avoid finishing in last place and having the 14th seed in next week's Big Ten tournament. … Junior forwards Parker Fox (Northern State transfer) and Isaiah Ihnen have been out for the year after offseason knee surgery. Fox, who tore his ACL and MCL in late March, returned to practice this week after being cleared for full contact practice, but he's expected to remain on the scout team the rest of the season.

NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (12-15, 5-10)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Boo Buie 6-2 Jr. 14.2

G – Julian Roper II 6-3 Fr. 3.5

G – Chase Audige 6-4 Jr. 10.6

F – Pete Nance 6-10 Sr. 14.6

F – Robbie Beran 6-9 Jr. 6.0

Reserves – Ty Berry, G, 6-3, So., 7.8 ppg; Ryan Young, C, 6-10, Jr., 8.9 ppg; Ryan Greer, G, 6-2, Sr., 4.0 ppg; Elyjah Williams, F, 6-7, Sr., 3.3 ppg; Casey Simmons, G, 6-6, Fr., 2.5 ppg.

Coach: Chris Collins 131-149 (9th season)

Notable: The Wildcats were the last opponent to lose to Minnesota on Feb. 19 at Williams Arena, 77-60. After three straight wins, they has lost five of six entering Sunday's senior night. Wildcats forward Pete Nance had 38 points combined in games against Minnesota and Nebraska, but he was then held to just 16 total points in the last two losses to Iowa and Penn State.

Fuller's score prediction (Picks record: 20-8): Northwestern 67, Gophers 60.