The 2022 college basketball season is finally upon us and the Minnesota Golden Gophers are set to open their second season under head coach Ben Johnson on Monday night against the Western Michigan Broncos.
The Gophers will look to improve on their 13-17 record from a season ago including a 4-16 record in Big Ten conference play. In Johnson's first season as the head coach of the program, the Gophers played extremely well in their non-conference slate, collecting a 9-1 record.
Western Michigan, on the other hand, will look to take another step forward in their first season under head coach Dwayne Stephens. Stephens takes over the program after former head coach Clayton Bates went 13-39 over two seasons. Last season, the Broncos were a mere 8-23 overall.
Surprisingly, it will be the first time the two programs have ever faced off against each other.
TGR takes a closer look at the matchup below between the Gophers and the Broncos below.
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The Details:
TV: Big+
WHO: Western Michigan at Minnesota
WHEN: 8:00 PM (CST) - Monday, November 6
WHERE: Williams Arena - Minneapolis, Minnesota
RANKINGS COMPARISON - MINNESOTA | WESTERN MICHIGAN
ESPN BPI: No. 104 | No. 247
KENPOM: No. 109 | No. 268
SAGARIN: No. 66 | No. 239
NET RANKINGS: No. 109 | No. 329
What to know:Â
For Monday evening's matchup between the Gophers and the Broncos, it will be intriguing to see how Ben Johnson handles his starting lineup.
In their exhibition game against St. Olaf College, the Gophers ran out a starting lineup of G Ta'lon Cooper, G Will Ramberg, G/F Jaden Henley, F Pharrel Payne, and center Treyton Thompson. That being said, the Gophers were without three key players in Jamison Battle, Braeden Carrington, and Dawson Garcia.
As of Sunday evening, it seems likely that both Braeden Carrington and Dawson Garcia will be ready to go against the Broncos. That being said, Battle being ready to go is unlikely after having a minor foot surgery at the end of October. His return though is likely not that far away either as he's considered week-to-week according to the program.
If Carrington and Garcia do in fact play on Monday, it wouldn't be shocking to see both slide into the starting lineup for the Gophers. Carrington, a three-star prospect out of Brooklyn Park (MN) was a key pickup for the Gophers in the 2022 recruiting class while Dawson Garcia returns home after spending time with both Marquette and North Carolina.
For Western Michigan, the Broncos defeated Kalamazoo College 82-59 in their exhibition matchup. The Broncos will return Lamar Norman Jr. this season, who led the MAC in scoring a season ago with 19.8 points per game. Forward Markeese Hastings also returns for the program as well.
As noted above, the program is now under head coach Dwayne Stephens, who has spent most of his coaching career with Michigan State as an assistant. Stephens coached under Tom Izzo in East Lansing from 2003 to 2022 with stops at Oakland (1997-1999) and Marquette (1999-2003) beforehand. With that, Stephens is familiar with the Gophers and what they bring to the table this season.
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