About the Gophers (8-20, 2-14 Big Ten): After a two-game winning streak provided the appearance of upward movement, the Gophers find themselves in a bigger hole than ever heading into Wednesday after coach Richard Pitino suspended guards Kevin Dorsey, Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer for the remainder of the season Tuesday. The Gophers, who now have only six scholarship players on the roster, lost 84-71 at Illinois on Sunday, the first game that the trio sat out. In that game, Minnesota led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but watched the advantage crumble quickly in the second. Walk-on and Bloomington native Stephon Sharp started at point guard for a team that no longer has any scholarship guards available, and finished with 19 points in 39 minutes. Sharp had played a total of 39 minutes in all of the games leading up to Sunday.
Gophers-Wisconsin game preview
March 2, 2016 at 5:30AM
About Wisconsin (19-10, 11-5): The Badgers are surging after ten victories in their past 11 games and three in a row heading into Minneapolis, including an upset of No. 16 Iowa on Feb. 24. The Badgers, who received 93 votes in Monday's Associated Press poll, have held each of their past three opponents to .97 points per possession or fewer while scoring at least 1.10 points per possession or more. Junior Nigel Hayes leads Wisconsin with 16.4 points per game and went 7-for-14 from the field in the Badgers' 68-57 victory against Michigan on Sunday but had converted only 12 of 46 shots (26.1 percent) in the four games prior.
Amelia Rayno
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The Gophers scored three goals in the first period and went on to win their ninth game in a row.
