Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Illinois Fighting Illini
It’s been a trying season for third-year head coach Richard Pitino who has seen his win total go from 25 in his first campaign to just eight in 2015-16. No, the Minnesota Golden Gophers won’t be doing anything but watching the NCAA Tournament this March, barring a miracle, but next year should be an improvement for the program.
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There wasn’t really anyone who stood out above the rest for the Golden Gophers as they averaged just 69 points per game — one of the worst marks in the country. Sophomore guard Nate Mason hasn’t played in three games because of a suspension, but he led the team in scoring. Kevin Dorsey and Dupree McBrayer were also suspended for the year by Minnesota.
Illinois wasn’t really expecting the poor season that it suffered in 2015-16 as John Groce is fighting for his job nowadays. The new AD gave Groce a vote of confidence so it looks like he’ll have at least one more year to turn things around in Champaign. The Fighting Illini will also be missing the NCAA Tournament and it’s mostly because they haven’t won consecutive games since December.
Despite not having a great overall team, the Illini have a couple of players who could start on most teams in the conference. Malcolm Hill was an All-Big Ten selection as he finished the year with 18.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while Kendrick Nunn was solid as well, putting up 15.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 38 percent from three-point range.
Details for Wednesday’s Minnesota vs Illinois game are below:
Date: Wednesday, March 9
Start Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Stadium: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV Info: ESPN 2
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: For Minnesota radio affiliates, click here. For Illinois radio affiliates, click here.