Will the Gophers look to establish post presence with Liam Robbins vs. St. Louis?

Post touches for Robbins – The importance of getting Liam Robbins to fill Daniel Oturu's starting center role can't be overstated when he transferred from Drake. Rewind back to earlier this fall when Robbins was ruled eligible to play immediately. The Gophers were doing cartwheels. Sure, the NCAA decided recently to approve all waivers for transfers to play this season. But Robbins playing seven games already this season was a big reason for the 6-0 start. Now the Gophers have to figure out how to consistently utilize the 7-foot junior as a post threat offensively. Outside of his 27-point game vs. UMKC where they were clearly went above and beyond establishing him inside, the Gophers have ignored Robbins frequently inside. In the 27-point Big Ten-opening loss at Illinois, Robbins didn't get a post touch until 14:22 left in the second half. Yes, Robbins was in foul trouble, but he received no passes inside when in the game until that point. No surprise what happened next. He drew a foul on Kofi Cockburn, who had to leave the game. But Cockburn had already dominated on his way to a 33-point effort to that point. On the next possession, Robbins got the ball again and scored plus the foul. Who knows what would've happened if Robbins was able to put Cockburn in foul trouble early? But that's not possible if he gets most of his early opportunities to score with perimeter touches instead of post touches (he hit two early three-pointers). Robbins will have a five-inch height advantage on St. Louis' center Hasahn French on Sunday.

Backcourt battle – The Gophers might not see a backcourt the rest of the season better than they will Sunday. The Billikens start a four-guard lineup of Javonte Perkins, Jordan Goodwin, Yuri Collins, and Gibson Jimerson, who combined for 65 points, 25 rebounds and 12 assists in Thursday's 80-69 win against North Carolina State. Perkins leads the team with 19.5 points per game. Collins is one of the top players nationally in assists (7.3). Perkins (58.3) and Jimerson (44.4) are a big reason why St. Louis ranks third nationally in three-point shooting percentage at 44.6. But the most important backcourt player for Travis Ford's team is Goodwin. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior is averaging a double-double for the second straight season with 15.2 points and an Atlantic 10-best 11.0 rebounds per game, which included 16 points and a career-high tying 15 rebounds vs. NC State. The Gophers are also led by their backcourt of Marcus Carr, Both Gach and Gabe Kalscheur, but they're coming off a forgettable performance Tuesday with 26 points combined on 6-for-30 shooting from the field against Illinois. Going into the Christmas Day matchup against Iowa, Carr, Gach and Kalscheur could sure make a statement by leading Minnesota to a bounce back victory Sunday against St. Louis. Gach is surely looking to redeem himself after scoring just one point and going without a field goal (0-for-9) for the first time since his freshman season at Utah.

Rebounding battle – Illinois is the top rebounding team in the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally with a rebounding margin of plus-17 this season. St. Louis leads the Atlantic 10 in rebounding (plus-12) margin and ranks 20th nationally. The Gophers, who are last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-0.9), were outrebounded by 18 against the Illini. It won't be any easier keeping the Billikens off the glass Sunday night, especially coming off Thursday when they crushed North Carolina State on the boards 53-26. Yes, you read that right. The Gophers are 2-11 the last two seasons when outrebounded. They managed to escape Loyola Marymount on Carr's last-second three-pointer after giving up 18 offensive rebounds. They might not get the chance to have Carr bail them out this time with a poor rebounding effort.

Foul shooting fancy – The Gophers shot 34-for-44 from the free throw line against UMKC, which was then the most made free throws for any Division I team in regulation so far this season (Georgia Tech shot 41-for-59 in a triple-overtime win vs. Georgia Southern). They currently rank No. 1 in the Big Ten and No. 2 nationally in free throws made per game (21.9) this year. It's a drastic improvement from last season when Minnesota ranked 285^th nationally with 11.5 makes on foul shots per game. In the five early losses in November and early December last year, the Gophers shot just 57.8 percent at the foul line, but they also scored only 9.6 points a game on free throws. Getting to the line is a must for Pitino's teams since they are 6-14 when outshot by their opponent the last two seasons. The Gophers got to the line often against Illinois, but they weren't as efficient going 20-for-32.

GAME INFO

Time: 7:30 p.m. CT, Sunday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Minnesota 2.5-point underdog. Series: Minnesota leads the series 3-2 after winning the last meeting 62-52 on March. 19, 2003 in the NIT. TV: FS1. Online/Live video: FoxSports. Radio: 100.3 KFAN.

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (6-1)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Marcus Carr 6-2 195 Jr. 22.7

G – Gabe Kalscheur 6-4 200 Jr. 9.3

G – Both Gach 6-6 185 Jr. 13.3

F – Brandon Johnson 6-8 220 Sr. 7.0

C – Liam Robbins 7-0 235 Jr. 12.1

Key reserves– Eric Curry, F-C, 6-9, Sr., 4.6 ppg; Tre' Williams, G, 6-5, So., 3.8 ppg; Jamal Mashburn Jr., G, 6-2, Fr., 4.0 ppg.

Coach: Richard Pitino 151-123 (9th season overall)

Notable: In the Nov. 25 opener against Green Bay, Gophers redshirt senior big man Eric Curry played his first game since the 2018-19 season. Curry, who started the first two games, bounced back from his second major knee injury after missing last season following a torn right anterior cruciate ligament in preseason practice. The 6-foot-9 Memphis native is the last remaining scholarship player from the U's first NCAA tournament team under Pitino in 2017 … Junior forward Jarvis Omersa opted out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season, the team announced Sunday. Omersa averaged 1.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in nearly 10 minutes this season. His absence off the bench could mean more time for Curry and sophomore forward Isaiah Ihnen in the frontcourt ... Sophomore guard Tre' Williams suffered a bruised leg in the win against UMKC. Williams, who turned 20 Tuesday, played and finished with six points in 13 minutes in the next game at Illinois … Senior forward Brandon Johnson returned from an ankle injury and had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks at Illinois off the bench. Johnson's former Chicago AAU teammate Demarius Jacobs is a junior guard for the Billikens.

ST. LOUIS BILLIKENS (6-0)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Yuri Collins 6-0 185 So. 7.5

G – Jordan Collins 6-3 200 Sr. 15.2

G – Javonte Perkins 6-6 210 Sr. 19.5

G – Gibson Jimerson 6-5 200 So. 13.2

F – Hasahn French 6-7 240 Sr. 8.3

Key reserves – Demarius Jacobs, G, 6-2, Jr., 8.7 ppg; Fred Thatch Jr., G, 6-3, Sr., 1.8 ppg; Jimmy Bell, F, 6-10, So., 2.5 ppg; Terrance Hargrove, G, 6-4, So., 4.7 ppg; Marten Linssen, F, 6-8, Jr., 6.7 ppg.

Coach: Travis Ford 417-324 (24th season)

Notable: Richmond and St. Louis were picked to finish 1-2 in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. They've beaten SEC opponents Kentucky and LSU, respectively. The Billikens have 10 straight victories dating back to last season, which his third longest current streak in the nation … St. Louis coach Travis Ford beat Pitino and the Gophers 62-60 as Oklahoma State's coach in 2015-16 … Goodwin was the only player in Division I last season to rank in the top 100 nationally in rebounds with a listed height of 6-3 or shorter. He averaged 10.4 rebounds as a junior and 7.5 rebounds both as a freshman and sophomore.

Fuller's score prediction (Picks record 6-1): St. Louis 73, Gophers 70.