Gophers-Jacksonville game preview: A showdown of first-year head coaches

Preview: The Gophers (4-0) were riding high after winning the Asheville (N.C.) Championship, but they trailed by double digits early in last week's 78-49 victory against Purdue Fort Wayne. First-year coach Ben Johnson hopes they can avoid another wake-up call Wednesday against Jacksonville (2-1) at home. The Dolphins were picked to finish 10^th in the ASUN Conference preseason poll under first-year coach Jordan Mincy, who spent six seasons as a Florida assistant. Mincy's first loss with Jacksonville came 63-54 last week against Central Florida in Orlando. The Gophers haven't played the Dolphins since defeating them 52-50 at the Barn during the 1983-84 season.

Players to watch: Senior guard Sean Sutherlin came off the bench to lead the Gophers with 19 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field and seven rebounds in the win over IPFW. Sutherlin has scored the most points (44) off the bench for Minnesota in consecutive games since Isaiah Washington in 2017-18. Jacksonville senior guard Jordan Davis leads the team in scoring (14.3), assists (2.7), and blocks (1.3) this season.

Numbers: The Gophers haven't suffered a home nonleague loss against a team outside the six major conferences since falling to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 23, 2015.