Gophers men's basketball gameday preview at Penn State

GOPHERS GAMEDAY

Preview: The Gophers (12-11, 3-11 Big Ten) suffered their sixth consecutive road loss, falling 70-45 Tuesday at Ohio State. The Buckeyes trailed at halftime but outscored Minnesota 47-20 in the second half. The U's 45 points were the program's fewest points in a Big Ten game since a 45-44 loss at Wisconsin on Jan. 26, 2013. Penn State (10-12, 5-9) lost to the Gophers 76-70 last Saturday at Williams Arena. The Nittany Lions ended a three-game losing streak Tuesday with a 62-58 victory against No. 19 Michigan State at home. They're 8-4 at home this season, including wins against Iowa, Indiana and Rutgers.

Players to watch: Senior Luke Loewe scored in double figures for the sixth time in the past eight games by leading the Gophers with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting Tuesday. Loewe's also shooting 13-for-33 from three-point range in the past eight games (39.3%). Penn State senior John Harrar had 16 points and 16 rebounds in his team's win over the Spartans. But Harrar was outscored by senior Eric Curry 22-12 in the last meeting with Minnesota.

Numbers: The Gophers rank 22^nd nationally in average experience at 2.56 years, but the Nittany Lions are eighth in the country at 2.74 years, per Kenpom.com.