When rivals collide: Gophers can get NCAA Tournament boost with win over Wisconsin Wednesday night
Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Marcus Carr (5) and Purdue Boilermakers guard Sasha Stefanovic (55) battle for a loose ball during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Purdue Boilermakers on Janua ((Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - It’s always a big game when Minnesota faces Wisconsin on the basketball court, and Wednesday night at Williams Arena won’t be any different.
The Gophers (11-10, 5-6) have lost three of their last four games and are fighting for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament with nine regular season games left, and the Big Ten Tournament. The Badgers are one of five home opponents left, and if Minnesota doesn’t want a sweat going into the league tournament, winning at home is critical.
The Gophers are 9-2 at Williams Arena this season, but the last time they played at The Barn, they suffered their first home Big Ten loss to Michigan State. Meanwhile, the Badgers are coming off an emotional home win over those same Spartans.
Of Minnesota’s final nine games, seven are Quadrant 1 win opportunities. Wisconsin is 3-5 on the road this season.
“Obviously very, very important to take advantage of every opportunity that you get that is in front of you and Wisconsin is a terrific opportunity,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. “Our guys have to be disciplined and we have to play extremely hard for 40 minutes and be able to get a tough win.”
While the Gophers are battling to get into the Big Dance, the Badgers aren’t currently sweating. Wednesday’s game will feature plenty of Minnesota flavor on both sides of the court.
The Gophers have Minnesota natives Daniel Oturu, Gabe Kalscheur, Jarvis Omersa, Michael Hurt and Brady Rudrud. Minnesota natives Brad Davison (Maple Grove), Nate Reuvers (Lakeville), Tyler Wahl (Lakeville), Walt McGrory (Minneapolis) and Joe Hedstrom (Hopkins) all wear Badgers red.
That’s five Minnesotans on the Wisconsin roster. The two teams split the regular season series last year, with both road teams winning. Coach Greg Gard is 5-1 against the Gophers, including a 3-0 mark at Williams Arena.
“Especially being from Minnesota, you always want to be able to beat Wisconsin. So you want to just go out there and give it up, give the best effort you can,” sophomore center Daniel Oturu said. “All that matters to me is just going out there and trying to get this win."
Davison will be coming back from a one-game suspension after an incident against Iowa, and he’s gotten a reputation around the Big Ten for his chippy play. Last year, he undercut Jordan Murphy on a rebound in what could’ve been a bad ankle injury. A couple seasons ago, he collided with Nate Mason.
Pitino said Tuesday there hasn’t been much talk about Davison, or his suspension. The talk is about finding a way to win a home game against a Badgers team that was without Davison and Kobe King on Saturday. King announced his intentions to leave Wisconsin before the team’s win over Michigan State. The Badgers beat the Spartans, the top team in the conference, without their starting backcourt.
“We play them every year. Nothing extra. They watch all the games and understand all the story lines and all the narratives just like everybody else does, so we just talk about what we need to do to win the game and that is really it,” Pitino said.
Oturu, named this week as a top 20 finalist for the Wooden Award, leads the Big Ten in rebounding (11.7) and is second in scoring (19.7). He’ll have quite the match-up against Reuvers. The Lakeville native leads the Badgers at 13.9 points per game and is second for Wisconsin in rebounding. He’s also shooting nearly 34 percent from three-point range.
“They’re a good team, and this is our home floor so we’re trying to do as much as we can to protect it and get a win tomorrow,” Oturu said.
The reality for the Gophers is the rivalry is a fun talking point, but their main concern is collecting quality wins. Minnesota and Wisconsin are separated by just one game in the Big Ten standings, and the Gophers have home games left against Iowa, Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska.
They also have road opportunities at Penn State, Northwestern, the Badgers and Indiana. Wednesday is a big game between two big rivals, but it’s also one step in the process to the ultimate goal: Getting your name called on Selection Sunday.
“It’s a very important game. It’s a rivalry game, and also it’s a home game. It’s a really good win, a very important win. Obviously all our focus is on that game right now,” freshman forward Isaiah Ihnen said.
With four of the next six games at Williams Arena, Wednesday night feels like as much of a “must-win” as the Gophers have had all season if they intend to be involved in the NCAA Tournament.