Michigan can clinch a share of the Big Ten title tonight with a win over Minnesota at the Crisler Center (8:30 p.m., BTN).
Minnesota is 13-14 (6-10 in the Big Ten) but has been more effective than its record suggests. The Golden Gophers have battled through injuries and even won three of their last five games. At -3.4 points per 100 possessions in league play, Minnesota has been better than USC and Northwestern on a per-possession basis, and significantly better than the bottom four of Oregon, Rutgers, Maryland, and Penn State (-15 points per 100 possessions or worse).
On the other hand, Minnesota has been decimated by injuries in a way that no other Big Ten team can say. The Gophers are down to six healthy rotation players, and only one post player (a 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman), but they are still playing hard to finish out the season.
The Golden Gophers
Minnesota’s approach in Year One under Niko Medved has been to make the most of limited resources. The Golden Gophers didn’t have the best roster in the Big Ten before the year began, and have been ravaged by injuries since.
That approach starts with tempo control. Minnesota is one of the slowest teams in the country, checking in at 358th in adjusted tempo and last in Big Ten games. The Gophers are ranked 303rd in offensive and 363rd in defensive possession length. Minnesota leads the country in transition defense, allowing just 6.3 transition points per game, and is ranked 9th nationally in percentage of shots taken in the last four seconds of the shot clock.
Not only is Minnesota the league’s slowest team, but it has also been playing even slower lately due to injuries. The Gophers are averaging 58.5 possessions per game over the last five contests. Michigan hasn’t played a game slower than 62 possessions (against Duke this year, at Minnesota last season) in the Dusty May era.
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