Niagara preview

Minnesota will host the Niagara Purple Eagles in a non-conference game at Williams Arena 7:00 PM CT today on BTN2 or FloHoops. Led by fifth-year coach Chris Casey, the team went 10-23 (6-10) last season and finished ninth in the MAAC. Niagara made their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007 and their last postseason appearance was the 2013 NIT. They played their first game of the year on Friday and came away with a surprising win on the road over a solid St. Bonaventure team out of the Atlantic-10.

Minnesota is off to a 2-0 start after a big win on Monday over a borderline top 25 team in Providence on the road. Jordan Murphy led all Gophers with 23 points and 14 rebounds while Nate Mason and Amir Coffey chipped in 17 and 15 points respectively. Down 39-36 at the half, the Gophers outscored Providence 50-35 in the second half to roll to an 86-74 victory in the Dunkin Donuts Center.

The Gophers return home for three straight games now before heading out to Brooklyn for the Barclays Classic on Thanksgiving weekend. Their focus will now turn to Niagara, a team who will have some confidence coming in after a hard fought opening night win, their first win to start a season since 2011-12. The Purple Eagles were a young team last year and they return six of their top eight scorers.

With only one player on the roster taller than 6’7”, Minnesota should have a nice size advantage inside. Niagara lost the rebounding battle in their first game 43-35 but made up for their lack of boards by shooting 47% from the field, forcing 13 turnovers and holding the Bonnies to just 39% shooting. The Purple Eagles made eight of their 22 three’s and were lead by Khalil Dukes, who hit six of those three’s and finished with 23 points to lead all scorers.

After being one of the top three-point defenses in the country last year, the Gophers have given up 20 three pointers in their first two games in 45 attempts for a scorching 44%. Like USC Upstate, Niagara will need to shoot the three at a high percentage if they are going to hang with a top fifteen opponent on the road. Minnesota gave up 14 in their home opener on Friday, so they will need to do a better job on close outs and getting make life more difficult for their opponents on three point attempts.

Point Guard: Nate Mason vs. Khalil Dukes

Mason is the leader of the Golden Gophers and when he is good, the Gophers are very hard to beat. Mason hasn’t shot the ball great through the first two games, at 33% so far from the field 30% from three. As long as he avoids some of the off-balance and difficult shots he has been known to take, he is one of -- if not the best -- lead guard in the conference. Look for him to have a great game on Wednesday. He will go head-to-head with redshirt senior Khalil Dukes, who carried his team to a big time season opening win. Dukes was second on the team in scoring a year ago at 15.5 points per game while dishing out 4.1 assists and shooting 41% from the field. He can score effectively at all three levels and thrives when shooting off the dribble. Mason will need to be on his game defensively, especially when Dukes has the ball at the top of the key.

Shooting Guard: Dupree McBrayer vs. Mike Scott

Mike Scott is a 6’3” senior guard from Brooklyn, New York who returns for his senior season after leading the team in scoring at 17 points per game a year ago. He also led the team in rebounding at 7.0 per game and was second on the team in assists. He had 18 points and eight boards in the season opening win and has an impressively high offensive rebounding rate throughout his career. Dupree will look to contain the savvy veteran while providing a scoring punch of his own. McBrayer has scored eight and nine points in each of the first two games and has hit two of his six three point shots. It should be fun to watch these two crafty New Yorkers go at each other.

Wing: Amir Coffey vs. Chris Barton

After a shaky first game and a tough shooting first half against Providence, Amir Coffey erupted in the second half and showed Gopher fans a glimpse of the type of player he could be this season. He defended ferociously, hit all three of his three point attempts and slashed to the hoop for a couple buckets. Coffey was instrumental in the Gophers mid-second half run and helped them pull away for the 12 point win. Barton is a respectable shooter who hit 47% of his three-point attempts last season and averaged just over seven points per game. He made all three of his attempts from the field in their first game and finished with eight points.

Power Forward: Jordan Murphy vs. Marvin Prochet

It’s only two games in, but Murphy is leading the Big Ten in points (29.5) and rebounds (14.5). He has been unstoppable down low and his improved offensive touch is a result of the hard work he has put in since last season ended. Murphy should have no problem getting his third straight double-double to begin the season tonight. Prochet averaged 9.4 points and 5.5 rebounds last year and made 30% of his three-point shots. He gives up about 50 pounds to Murphy and prefers to work out on the perimeter. He did have 10 points and eight boards in the season opener and his team will need him to give a herculean effort to hang with Murphy.

Center: Reggie Lynch vs. Dominic Robb

Lynch is off to a great start to his senior season, averaging 13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game. He also has yet to foul out. The Gophers have been at their best this year playing inside-out and Lynch has shown off an improved touch at the rim. When he is on the court, Minnesota is a different team defensively as he is one of the very best rim protectors in the country and his numbers back that up. Robb is the Purple Eagle’s top rim protector as well, averaging 2.2 blocked shots per game last year while chipping in just over eight points and six boards per night. He had eight points and two boards on opening night.

Bench:

Niagara played ten guys against the Bonnies but didn’t get any scoring outside of anyone but James Towns, a sophomore wing who scored nine points on 3/6 shooting from the field in 18 minutes. The depth outside of the top six is not great for the Purple Eagles, who will certainly need to keep their bigs out of foul trouble to avoid letting this one slip out of hand.

Minnesota will likely play ten guys as well this game. Jamir Harris had six points in the opener on Friday but did not play against Providence. Bakary Konate played five minutes on Monday but didn’t see any action in the first game. Isaiah Washington is the first man off the bench for Minnesota and he had an impressive game Monday, scoring eight points on 4/7 shooting in 21 minutes. Michael Hurt and Davonte Fitzgerald will each see time in the frontcourt. Hurt played a solid ten minutes against Providence and chipped in two points and one rebound.

Vegas line: Minnesota by 20
TeamRankings: Minnesota by 19.5
NumberFire: 96.7% victory of Gopher victory

Minnesota should not have too tough of a time with Niagara tonight. They should contend for a finish in the top half of their conference this season, but Minnesota just has too much talent and experience for them to stay with Minnesota for longer than the first 20 minutes. We might not see a mid-major team shoot the ball better than USC Upstate did against Minnesota on Friday, hitting 14 of their 29 three point attempts. Jordan Murphy collects another double double and the bench gets plenty of action for the Golden Gophers, who move to 3-0 on the season.

Minnesota 92, Niagara 71