After suffering their most disheartening loss of the year — a 52-50 defeat at Penn State — the Minnesota Golden Gophers got a well-timed off week to right their minds, practice their fundamentals and contemplate new rotations.
As first reported on Richard Pitino’s radio show, the head coach is considering a lineup change from sophomore Dupree McBrayer to senior Akeem Springs as the Wisconsin Badgers (15-3, 4-1 Big Ten) prepare to invade Williams Arena.
Following their two worst offensive showings of the season with 47 and 50 points against Michigan State and Penn State, respectively, the Gophers are looking to boost their offensive efficiency by going with the veteran Springs, who’s come into his own of late.
Pitino said it’s “not a demotion” for McBrayer. He called it more of a move to improve the rotation. Springs gives #Gophers SR experience.
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) January 17, 2017
Though neither McBrayer nor Springs have been good during the two-game losing streak, McBrayer had been on the decline since transitioning to conference play. His torrid shooting start, which led to a 50/42/72 slash line in nonconference games, cooled against Big Ten foes as he’s shooting just 37/25/71 in conference contests. Meanwhile, Springs had been shooting 47 percent from 3-point range over an 11-game stretch leading into last Wednesday’s game.
Springs has served as the sixth man this season, playing just about 21 minutes per game and providing invaluable bench scoring. Ninety-seven of his 133 field-goal attempts have been from beyond the arc, and he’s made at least one 3-point shot in 12 of the last 13 games.
The Gophers would love to see the same Springs who took over against Ohio State in the team’s last victory. The graduate transfer scored 18 points on five 3-pointers, but more impressively turned into a facilitator with five assists.
It’s yet to be seen how many more minutes Springs will play. His season-high was 31 minutes against LIU-Brooklyn, which happens to be McBrayer’s average. In all likelihood, Pitino will still give McBrayer plenty of run, but the more interesting aspect will be seeing which player finishes the game. Pitino had largely gone with McBrayer in end-of-game situations early in the conference season, but with the game on the line against Penn State, the head coach had Springs on the floor.
Pitino wants to see a better offensive tone set by his starting five.
Chiefly, Pitino wants to see a better offensive tone set by his starting five. Minnesota’s half-court offense has been stagnant in the two most recent games. Not only did they set new lows with offensive scoring, but the Gophers produced their two lowest free throw attempt totals (7 and 11) and two of their three lowest assist totals (6 and 8) of the year in the losses.
Being home in front of a near-sellout crowd could help the issue of getting to the line. Minnesota is averaging 28 free throw attempts per game at Williams Arena — 18 per game elsewhere.
Pitino will speak to the media Friday for the first time in a week and discuss the matchup with Wisconsin. Follow on Twitter @SamEkstrom for updates.
