Penn State vs Minnesota: 2019 Big Ten Tournament game preview, TV schedule
Review of Minnesota
Head Coach Richard Pitino’s squad has strung together a very nice season. The Gophers are 19-12 overall and 9-11, in conference play. His team wants to solidify its position as an NCAA Tournament team, by defeating Penn State and moving as deep into the conference tournament, as possible. He conducted a press conference and had this to say about the upcoming match-up.
"Excited about playing Penn State. Really, really good team. Playing very well. It was a war at our place. It came down to the last possession, so we know we’ll get their best shot, and we’re excited about it."
Season Highlights
Minnesota has several key victories over ranked Big Ten opponents. They defeated Nebraska when they were ranked #24, Wisconsin when they were ranked #22 and most recently, #11 ranked and co-champion of the B1G, Purdue.
Player Accolades
Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey both received Big Ten recognition. Senior Jordan Murphy was named to the Big Ten First-Team, by the media and Second-Team, by the coaches. Junior Guard Amir Coffey was named to the third team by the media and the coaches. Coffey also garnered B1G Co-Player of the Week honors, for his performance in the Purdue upset.
Nightmare Match-up
Senior Forward Jordan Murphy has proven that he can be a nightmare match-up, for Penn State. In the January contest, Murphy dominated the boards with 21 rebounds. He also led Minnesota’s scoring campaign with 19. It will be interesting to see if Penn State can limit Murphy’s effectiveness around the rim. I’m sure that coach Pitino will implement schemes that favor both of his All-Big Ten players.
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Penn State heads into the tournament winning two in a row and seven of its last ten. It’s hard to stop that kind of momentum, especially when everything is clicking. Minnesota however, is coming off a recent Purdue win and Jordan Murphy is a proven match-up problem, for Penn State. Minnesota also has the edge in Big Ten Tournament contests against Penn State, at 3-0. With all that being said, if the lights of Chicago aren’t blindingly bright for Rasir Bolton, Myles Dread and Myreon Jones, I believe that a Nittany Lion can feast on Gopher.