The Terps look for consecutive Big Ten wins.
Maryland men’s basketball capitalized at home Friday night, winning a crucial contest over No. 22 UCLA to capture its first ranked win of the 2024-25 campaign. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led all scorers with 27 points, and Maryland pulled away in the second half, courtesy of some staunch defense. The Bruins committed 21 turnovers.
The Terps have another opportunity to capture a Big Ten win at home when it takes on Minnesota Monday.
The Golden Gophers are last in the Big Ten, having not won a single conference game this season. Over the past week, they have lost to Ohio State and Wisconsin. It has also incurred 18- and 20-point defeats at the hands of No. 16 Michigan State and No. 20 Purdue, respectively. Minnesota has wins over Yale and Central Michigan, among others.
Monday’s game will begin at 6:30 p.m. and air on Big Ten Network.
Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten)
2023-24 record: 19-15, 9-11 Big Ten
Head coach Ben Johnson is in his fourth season at the helm of the Golden Gophers. During his first three seasons leading the program, he amassed a 41-54 record without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Johnson also worked as an assistant coach for Xavier, Nebraska and UNI, among others. He played college basketball for Minnesota and Northwestern.
Players to know
Dawson Garcia, senior forward, 6-foot-11, No. 3 — Garcia leads Minnesota in scoring by a pretty wide margin, averaging 18.4 points per game, good for fifth in the conference. He was named a preseason All-Big Ten honoree and Naismith Top 50 Trophy Watch List selection. He also leads the Golden Gophers with 7.3 rebounds per game.
Lu’Cye Patterson, senior guard, 6-foot-2, No. 25 — Patterson has started all 16 games for Minnesota and logged the second-most minutes on the team thus far, just behind Garcia. He’s averaging a team-high 3.8 assists per game, which is also good for 16th in the Big Ten. Prior to his time with Minnesota, Patterson played with Missouri State and Charlotte, where he was a two-time all-conference selection.
Isaac Asuma, freshman guard, 6-foot-3, No. 1 — Asuma is effectively the Golden Gophers’ sixth man. He has not started a game this year, but has played in all 16 and logged the fourth-most minutes on the team. He is shooting 41% from 3-point range on 39 attempts and is third on the team with 40 total assists.
Strength
Blocks. Minnesota lies outside the top 10 in almost every single statistic in the Big Ten. But it is tied for first in the conference with 5.2 blocks per game.
Weakness
Efficiency. Minnesota ranks second to last in the conference with a 44.4% field goal percentage. The Golden Gophers aren’t much better from 3-point territory, shooting a paltry 31.5% from distance.
Three things to watch
1. Who will step up? In each of its last three games, Maryland has had a different leading scorer — Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Julian Reese. Against a team that is prolific in blocking shots, it will be interesting to see if head coach Kevin Willard opts for a guard-heavy scoring approach, or if he will want to emphasize getting Reese and Queen the ball early, as he has in the past few contests.
2. Stacking wins. After dropping two consecutive games on its West Coast road trip, Maryland received just seven votes in this week’s Associated Press top-25 poll. However, with a win Monday, the Terps could find themselves back in range of being ranked, although it will probably take another week of wins for that to happen. Nonetheless, this game is important for Maryland’s morale and momentum heading into the thick of Big Ten play.
3. What will the bench rotation look like? The Terps’ bench has been a mix of about five different players throughout the season. Jay Young and DeShawn Harris-Smith usually play consistent minutes no matter the matchup, while Malachi Palmer isn’t seeing much of the floor anymore. Tafara Gapare and Jordan Geronimo appear to be competing for time, and Gapare performed well in his action against UCLA, notching eight points and two blocks. Who plays more Monday will be worthy of note.