Big Ten Basketball: Analyzing each team’s 2021-22 opening night matchup

Kansas City at Minnesota

When Minnesota’s season tips off – their first under new head coach Ben Johnson – at 8 pm on Tuesday they will be looking to not only prove that they will not need half a season to gel, but that they are better than the dead last they were placed in the Big Ten preseason power rankings. With six new transfers and a new head coach, the Golden Gophers managed an 80-67 victory over Concordia-St. Paul.

With their focus now turned to Kansas City, the Golden Gophers hope to improve upon their success they had versus the only Division II program in the Twin Cities to get a victory over the Kangaroos from Kansas City who finished fifth in the Summit.

Potential warning signs: If the Golden Gophers run the 4-out offense with Eric Curry being the scoring option in the paint, they will win, but not because it is a good idea. The 6’9 center was successful on 51 percent of his two-point field goals last season but attempted fewer than three per game.

When Curry lined up versus the Golden Bears they were without 6’10 freshman Jonah Zeller and 6’9 forward Roy Grigsby, leaving 6’8 freshman Elijah Ormiston to log 23 minutes. Curry for his part scored seven points on 3 for 8 shooting, this from a player who has attempted more than six shots just once over his 78 collegiate games.

The 4-out offense seems attractive with Jamison Battle, Payton Willis, and Luke Loewe on the perimeter, but less effective if defenders do not need to double down. With bigger defenders in the paint in Big Ten play, if Curry is going to attempt eight shots a night, the Golden Gophers will still get a win versus the Kangaroos Tuesday night, but it does not look promising for conference play.

For continued success: Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Centennial Conference, Patriot League, Colonial Athletic Conference, those are the conferences that the new Golden Gophers transferred from, except Jamison Battle who transferred from George Washington where he averaged 17.3 points in the Atlantic-10 Conference. Now the Atlantic-10 will not be confused with a power conference, but Battle’s experience in a mid-major makes him the best candidate to be the Golden Gophers’ first option on offense.

Versus Concordia-St. Paul, Battle was tied for the most field goal attempts with fifteen, attempted the most three-pointers with eight, made and attempted the most free-throws as well as led the team in rebounds while leading them with 24 points.  A single player leading all categories every game in the Big Ten is not a recipe for success, but Battle being the number one option on offense is.