IU basketball game day essentials: Indiana faces Minnesota in Big Ten opener

Game Day Essentials:

Minnesota (6-4) vs. Indiana (7-2)

• Tip Time:  6:30 p.m. Eastern, Monday
• Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222)
• Television: BTN (Dave Revsine, LaPhonso Ellis)
• Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
• Stream: Fox Sports
• Point Spread:  Indiana is a 10.5-point favorite
• KenPom Projected Score:  Indiana 73  Minnesota 63
• History: Indiana leads the series, 109-69
• Last Meeting: IU 70, Minnesota 58 on March 6, 2024 in Minneapolis
• Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)

Minnesota’s Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is in his fourth season as head coach of Minnesota’s men’s basketball team and has compiled a 47-57 record across his tenure.

Johnson had a playing career between two current Big Ten programs with Northwestern and Minnesota. He played his final two seasons with the Golden Gophers and finished with 533 points across 59 games.

Johnson began coaching as a graduate assistant at Dayton in 2005. He got his first assistant job in 2006 at Texas -Pan American, primarily working in recruiting. He moved up to the Division 1 level at Northern Iowa in 2008 and served as an assistant until 2012. Following the stint at NIU, he served as an assistant at Nebraska for one season.

Johnson’s longest assistant stint came at Minnesota, where he was hired in 2013. Once again, Johnson served a helping hand in recruiting, helping recruit standouts such as Daniel Oturu and Amir Coffey. Johnson was on staff with the Gophers until 2018 and was hired as an assistant under Travis Steele at Xavier up until 2021. On March 22, 2021, Johnson was hired as head coach of Minnesota.

Minnesota’s results and roster:

Minnesota’s Game Notes (via Minnesota Athletics)

GET TO KNOW THE 2024-25 GOLDEN GOPHERS

• Minnesota returns two of its top three scorers in Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell as well as sixth-man Parker Fox, and Kadyn Betts.
• Garcia, a second and third-team 2024 All-Big Ten selection and 2025 Preseason All-Big Ten honoree, returns for his final year after averaging 17.6 points and is the top returning Big Ten scorer from a year ago. Of the returning Big Ten athletes, Garcia ranks first in scoring and only one of six returners who received All-Big Ten honors in the 2023-24 season.
• Mitchell Jr. is also a returning starter for the Gophers. He ranked third on the team in scoring when he averaged just over 10.2 ppg. He and Fox saw action in all 34 games.

VETERAN CREW

• Minnesota has 10 seniors on its team this year, which is tied for the most in the Big Ten along with Southern California. The Gophers hold an average team age of 22.3. The breakdown of the season is 10 seniors, one junior, three sophomores, and two freshmen.

HOMEGROWN TALENT

• Lu’Cye Patterson returns home to join the Golden Gopher men’s basketball program. A transfer from Charlotte, the Minneapolis native was Second Team All-American Athletic Conference selection and Second Team All-District last year with Charlotte. He led the 49ers in scoring when he averaged 14.6 points, which ranked second in the AAC. Patterson started in all 31 games for Charlotte and scored double figures in 24.

BROOKLYN’S FEMI ODUKALE

• Femi Odukale has played in over 110 collegiate games and 80 starts in his previous stints. Last year, Odukale ranked second in Aggie scoring when he averaged 10.7 points in 26 games played. He shot 43 percent from the field and averaged a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game en route to All-CUSA Third team honors. With Minnesota roots, Odukale played youth basketball in St. Cloud, Minn., until he moved back to New York in sixth grade.

Minnesota’s KenPom notable numbers:

out of 364 teams)

Tempo – No. 362 (Offense No. 339 / Defense No. 339)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 160

• As the tempo numbers suggest, Minnesota plays very slow basketball. Their average possession length on offense is 19.4 seconds.
• The Golden Gophers have a 48.6 effective field goal percentage (No. 236). They shoot 29.7 percent from 3s (No. 293).
• They assist on a lot of their makes with a 65.8 percent rate (A/FGM, No. 11).
• Minnesota also struggles from the free throw line (61.7 percent, No. 352).

Defensive Efficiency – No. 87

• Minnesota is a good shot blocking team with a 13.8 percent rate (No. 34)
• They have done well defending inside the arc, only allowing a 46.3 field goal percentage on 2s (No. 61).
• The Gophers do force a good amount of turnovers, with a 19.1 percent rate (No. 107).

OG’s Pick:

Win/Loss Prediction: 6-1

Minnesota’s metrics are around average across the board, and they don’t boast any impressive wins heading into the game. Dawson Garcia has been outstanding so far this season, but Indiana’s defense on the inside has been one of their strong suits on the year. Mike Mitchell has missed some time for an ankle injury for the Gophers, so that’s also something to factor in.

I like the Hoosiers here, especially on the defensive end. Indiana has yet to pull away with any conviction in the first half, and it would be surprising for them to do so against Minnesota. However, I do think the Hoosiers have a good chance to make this one a high-scoring affair.

PICK: Indiana 79 – Minnesota 54

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