Following their first lost in the last 13 games and the first in the conference this season, the Indiana Hoosiers will welcome in the Minnesota Golden Gophers to Assembly Hall Saturday afternoon.

These two teams met just two weeks ago on January 16 at The Barn in Minneapolis in a game that the Hoosiers struggled in, but ultimately pulled away in at the end, winning it 70-63.

Last Time Out

Tuesday the Hoosiers suffered their first loss of the conference season at Wisconsin in a game that went to overtime. Indiana had a chance at the end of regulation, but ultimately fell 82-79. It was a bit of a missed opportunity because they had a chance to win a valuable road game, but there is no time to dwell as they still are atop the Big Ten by virtue of Iowa's loss at Maryland.

Indy Star
Indy Star

As for the Golden Gophers, they have been playing better basketball in the past few weeks losing their last four games by a combined 21 points, but still are 0-9 in conference. Wednesday they hosted Purdue and even though they ultimately lost 68-64, it was their closest conference loss of the season.

Scouting Report: Minnesota

Minnesota comes into Assembly Hall on a 10-game losing streak along with a conference record of 0-9. The Golden Gophers have won just one game since November 30, and Coach Richard Pitino is in a tough spot with his team currently. They have been playing better of late, but still sit in the cellar of the Big Ten with Rutgers.

USA TODAY
USA TODAY

The go-to player for Minnesota is guard Nate Mason who leads the Gophers in minutes played with 32.2, points with 13.3, and assists with 4.5 per game. Last time out against Indiana, Mason was in foul trouble, and had just five points while playing a season-low 22 minutes. If Minnesota wants to have success, Mason will need to have a big game.

Another guy for Minnesota who can get it done is Joey King who exploded for 18 points when these two teams met a few weeks back. King is a great shooter which is evident by his 45 percent field goal percentage along with shooting 44 percent from behind the arc.

On the boards, 6-6 freshman Jordan Murphy is sixth in the conference in rebounding with eight rebounds per game along with averaging 10.8 points per game.

Carlos Gonzalez-Star Tribune
Carlos Gonzalez-Star Tribune

Joining the previous three players in the starting five is big man Bakary Konate and freshman Dupree McBrayer who has started the last five games. Another scoring option off of the bench for the Gophers is Carlos Morris who is averaging 10.4 points per game.

The big thing that hurts this team is that they average giving up more points than they score. You make it pretty hard on yourself when that is the case.

What Indiana Needs To Do

This shouldn't be an extremely difficult game for the Hoosiers on paper, but it will be interesting to see how they come out following their first loss in a little less than two months.

There shouldn't be a hangover from that overtime loss at Wisconsin on Tuesday, but with a daunting road game coming up at Michigan on Tuesday, looking ahead to that matchup in Ann Arbor is something the Hoosiers can't do.

Indy Star
Indy Star

Coach Tom Crean has been saying that they treat each opponent like the next and have the utmost respect for each of them, and it could be assumed that nothing will change with this game even with Minnesota coming in at 0-9.

If Indiana gets up early like they have in their last two home games against Illinois and Northwestern, Indiana shouldn't have too many issues especially at home where they haven't lost this season.

What To Expect

KenPom is giving the Hoosiers a 95 percent chance to win and has them winning by 20 while Sagarin has the home team winning by 21. The average margin of victory in Indiana's last three games at Assembly Hall is 30.3, and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see the Hoosiers win by about that much.

Now, when it comes to importance of a win in this game for Indiana, it is virtually a must win. With a Minnesota team that has not won in conference and a schedule that is ramping up for the Hoosiers, losing this game would be quite a hamper to the position they have put themselves in thus far.

The loss on Tuesday should give the Hoosiers plenty of motivation heading into this game and with it in the friendly confines of Assembly Hall, they will be glad to be playing in front of their own fans.

Prediction:

Indiana 93, Minnesota 70

Game Info:

First tip is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. EST on BTN (Josh Lewin & Bob Wenzel) at Assembly Hall.

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About the author
Josh Eastern
I live in Seattle, Washington and attend Indiana University as a journalism major. You can follow me on Twitter (@JoshEastern) and feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions/thoughts.