No. 7 Michigan (23-3, 12-3) vs. Minnesota (17-9, 7-8)
Williams Arena, Minneapolis; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 7 Michigan presents a tough challenge for Minnesota. Minnesota has won three of its eight games against ranked opponents this season. Michigan beat Maryland by 13 in its last outing.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Jordan Murphy is averaging a double-double with 15 points and 11.9 rebounds to lead the way for the Golden Gophers. Amir Coffey has complemented Murphy and is producing 15.3 points per game. The Wolverines are led by Ignas Brazdeikis, who is averaging 14.5 points and 5.2 rebounds.
BRILLIANT BRAZDEIKIS: Brazdeikis has connected on 37.9 percent of the 95 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 10 of 25 over his last five games. He's also made 78.5 percent of his foul shots this season.
FLOOR SPACING: Michigan's Poole has attempted 142 3-pointers and connected on 38 percent of them, and is 9 for 32 over the last five games.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Golden Gophers have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Wolverines. Minnesota has an assist on 45 of 71 field goals (63.4 percent) across its past three contests while Michigan has assists on 36 of 75 field goals (48 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Michigan offense has recorded a turnover on only 14.2 percent of its possessions, which is the fourth-best rate in the nation. The Minnesota defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 17.3 percent of all possessions (ranked 290th among Division I teams).
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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC.
