6 p.m. at Pittsburgh • ESPNU, 100.3 FM
Gophers men's basketball gameday preview vs. Pittsburgh
The Gophers look to end a 12-game losing streak in true road games Tuesday at Pitt in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
November 30, 2021 at 2:52AM
Preview: The Gophers (5-0) are playing their first true road game of the season Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. First-year coach Ben Johnson defeated Western Kentucky and Princeton earlier this month on a neutral site to win the Asheville Championship in North Carolina. But the Gophers have 12 consecutive losses in true road games since winning at Northwestern on Feb. 23, 2020. Pitt (2-4) dropped its third home game this season Saturday in an 87-77 loss against UMBC, but the Panthers have won their past two Big Ten/ACC Challenge games the last two seasons vs. Northwestern and Rutgers. Minnesota defeated Boston College 85-80 in overtime at home last year, but it has never faced Pitt in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The last meeting between the two programs came in 1950, a 72-43 Gophers home victory.
Players to watch: Senior G Payton Willis, who won the Asheville Championship MVP, bounced back from a season-low effort to score a team-high 17 points in a 55-44 victory over Jacksonville on Wednesday. Willis followed up his 29-point performance against Princeton with only five points vs. Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 19. Panthers F John Hugley leads his team in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (7.2) this season. The 6-9, 240-pound sophomore had 21 points and seven rebounds vs. UMBC.
Numbers: The Gophers rank second nationally and first in the Big Ten in three-point defense holding opponents to 21.4% shooting, including Jacksonville going 1-for-15 from beyond the arc in the last game.
Minnesota’s bench scored 50 points, including a team-leading 18 points from graduate transfer Annika Stewart, showcasing the depth that coach Dawn Plitzuweit promised.
