11:03 am
March 10

Big Ten Tournament: Minnesota v. Nebraska

Who will WIN this matchup?

Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-12)

Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-11)

 

Current odds:

Minnesota Golden Gophers: (+235)

Nebraska Cornhuskers: (-290)

 

• The line for this game is Nebraska by 6.5 points.

• Minnesota won by 5 points at Nebraska and by 10 points at home.

• The Cornhuskers are 11-11 on the season and 9-10 in the Big Ten. They entered the contest against the Gophers on Jan. 19 by winning four of their last five games including upsets of then-No. 16/15 Northwestern, then-No. 23/24 Michigan State and No. 15/15 Ohio State. However, after starting the season 7-4, Nebraska ended the season 4-7, including a pair of losses to Minnesota.

• Nebraska has three players averaging double figures with Haiby leading the way at 17.0 points per game. Isabelle Bourne is behind her with a 13.9 scoring average, and is posting a team-best 7.9 rebounds per contest, while Kate Cain has her average at 10.3 points per game.

• Cain leads the Big Ten in both blocks (67; 7th nationally) and blocks per game (3.05; 8th).

• As a team, the Huskers lead the conference and rank ninth in the country with 5.7 blocks per game, while they are also tops in the league and 20th in the country with 29.5 defensive rebounds per contest.

• Head coach Lindsay Whalen’s Minnesota team fought hard down the stretch in Big Ten play, going 6-5 over the final 11 games, beginning with a 76-71 win at Nebraska (Jan. 19). The Golden Gophers finished the regular season 8-12 overall and 7-11 in the Big Ten to earn the tournament’s No. 9 seed.

• As a team, Minnesota is averaging 69.1 points while allowing 79.1 points per game. The Gophers carry a minus-0.9 rebound margin and a minus-2.3 turnover margin, while shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from three-point range. Opponents are shooting 46.5 percent, including 38 percent against the Gophers from long range. The opposition has hit 78.3 percent of its free throws.

• In the first meeting this season in Lincoln, Minnesota connected on 15-of-32 three-point attempts, including 5-of-9 shooting from Gadiva Hubbard, 4-of-10 from Sara Scalia and 3-of-8 from Jasmine Powell.

• In the rematch, the Huskers held Minnesota to 5-for-13 from beyond the arc, while Nebraska went 9-for-19. But NU went just 12-for-35 from inside the arc at Minnesota, while the Gophers went 22-for-46 from two-point range.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Nebraska Cornhuskers
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