Fighting Illini vs. Golden Gophers NCAA BB Free Pick/Preview

Both Illinois and Minnesota are headed the wrong direction right now, and they both badly need a win. Illinois has lost five of their last seven games, all in the Big Ten Conference. Minnesota has lost three straight games, and their injury problems are starting to catch up with them. Both of these teams were presumed to be in the tournament a few weeks ago, but they are falling back toward the bubble now. Who can pull off a big win in Minneapolis on Thursday night?

The Illinois Fighting Illini started the season pretty well, but they have been disappointing overall this year. This team has a tremendous amount of talent, and they simply shouldn’t be losing to teams like Indiana and Northwestern.

Demetri McCamey is one of the better point guards in the country, but his backcourt mates haven’t lived up their billing this year. D.J. Richardson’s numbers have slipped from his freshman campaign, and Brandon Paul has been a bit inconsistent. The Fighting Illini play solid defense, and that keeps them in the game, but it seems they can’t come up with a play to win the game when it is on the line.

Minnesota lost starting point guard Al Nolen to an injury in late January, and that has hurt this team badly. Blake Hoffarber is fighting through a knee injury, and he is trying to run the point most of the time for the Golden Gophers. Hoffarber is a great shooter, and it takes away his ability to run off screens when he is handling the ball all the time. Minnesota has a lot of strength down low. Trevor Mbakwe is a great rebounder and he plays with great energy. This is a team that needs to find a couple more scoring options.