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Minnesota v. Purdue (Game Thread)

Purdue Grad in Texas

All-American
Mar 22, 2010
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Good Sunday afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's Big Ten conference play, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers visit Mackey Arena to take on the 5th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in the conference opener for both schools. Tip is scheduled for around 5:00 pm (Eastern time) with television coverage on the Big Ten Network. Minnesota is 4-3 on the year, coming off a 67-57 loss at Virginia Tech this week in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and Purdue is 7-0 having won at Florida State on Wednesday night, 79-69.

Expected Starting Lineups:

Minnesota - Dawson Garcia, Treyton Thompson, Jamison Battle, Ta'Lon Cooper, and Jaden Henley

Purdue - Mason Gillis, Zach Edey, Ethan Morton, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith

Ta’Lon Cooper leads the way for the Gophers, averaging 10.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game. Sophomore forward Dawson Garcia tallies 14.3 points and 6.0 boards a night. If Minnesota is going to bounce back from a rough start to the year, it's likely going to be getting something in the front-court from Garcia and Battle and Cooper in the back-court. Cooper appears to be the one legitimate threat from deep (like Green with Florida State). I'd expect Purdue to try and limit Cooper as much as they can. Minnesota has shown they can defend at times, but they haven't done particularly well on the glass. They'll need some better success there.

For Purdue, it will likely be more of the same as in recent games - trying to establish Zach Edey in the paint and work inside/out. They've had a tendency to get off to slow starts recently, so it will be interesting if they can get a better rhythm early on. This will also be the first home game in nearly three weeks for the Boilers. If they continue to work the game plan and execute fairly efficiently, Purdue will be a tough match-up for Minnesota. The Boilers should also be a little better rested than last time out. Conference games can be grinders, especially if the shots aren't falling, and the Boilers can't afford to take the Gophers lightly.

Can they get off to a solid start in conference play? We shall see a little later on this afternoon.

Boiler up, my friends.

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