Preview: Minnesota Gophers @ Penn St. Nittany Lions

Time: 6:00 P.M. (C.S.T.)
TV: ESPN

I was going to write a story about the timberwolves game I went to tonight that featured Kevin Love and Blake Griffen, but it was much too pathetic a performance by the t-wolves to even write about.
The gophers will try to get back to the .500 mark in Big Ten play as they travel to State College to take on Penn St. for the first of two meetings this year.  Penn St. once again is lead by guard Talor Battle who can score in a variety of ways.  They also have some experience up front (and some rather generic names) in seniors Jeff Brooks, Andrew Jones, and David Jackson.  Battle is second in the Big Ten averaging just over 20 ppg, while Brooks is 4th in the Big Ten in blocks (1.7) and 3rd in field goal percentage (57.8%).  Ed DeChellis' team is once again sitting just outside the bubble in February.  They have a few quality wins in Big Ten play, but they have some head-scratching losses (like losing to Maine by 10) that will give them an uphill climb heading into March.  Penn State is a team I was sort of pulling for this year because I felt Talor Battle deserved to finally go dancing.  Oh well.

The gophers will try to build off a good defensive performance against Iowa (probably more of a terrible offensive game for Iowa).  The game featured Trevor Mbakwe absolutely owning the second half, scoring 22 of his 24 points.  He also shot very well from the line, going 10-11.  Other storylines of the game were Rodney Williams showing some aggressiveness and Maverick Ahanmisi playing his best game in a gopher uniform.  Rodney filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists while Ahanmisi had 7 points and 1 TO in 11 minutes.  Blake is obviously not as effective playing the point as he is at the 2, so if the gophers want to make a run, players like Williams and Ahanmisi are going to have to step up each game.  I'm expecting a close game between these two squads, but I think a second half burst fueled by Chip Armelin will lead the gophers to a much-needed road win!