Minnesota vs Stanford: Gophers look for Thanksgiving Day win over Cardinal
Happy Thanksgiving from ours to yours, everyone, and welcome to another Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball game day.
The Golden Gophers are back in action for the first time since last Saturday, when they fell to the San Francisco Dons 77-65 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The loss dropped the Gophers’ record to 4-2 on the season and was the fourth straight sub-optimal performance from Niko Medved’s group after they had to sweat out victories over Green Bay and Chicago State following their first loss of the season to Missouri on November 12.
On Thursday, the Gophers will have their second-straight neutral-site matchup, this time at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, California, as part of the Acrisure Classic.
The Gophers will take on the Stanford Cardinal on Thursday night before facing either Santa Clara or Saint Louis on Friday night.
Thursday night’s meeting between the Gophers and Cardinal will be the seventh matchup all-time between the two programs and the first since 2012, when the Gophers pulled out a narrow 66-63 victory in the Bahamas. The two programs also met in the 2011-2012 season in the NIT title game, a 75-51 win for Stanford at Madison Square Garden, which is the only time that the Cardinal have defeated the Gophers.
Stanford enters the Thanksgiving matchup between the two teams with a 4-1 record this season. They enjoyed victories over Portland State, Montana, Montana State, and Louisiana to start the season, but fell last time on November 21, 77-69, to the Seattle Redhawks.
How to watch Minnesota against Missouri
When: Thursday, November 27
Where: Acrisure Arena (11,000) | Palm Desert, CA
Time: 8:30 p.m. CT
TV | Stream: CBS Sports Network
Radio: KFAN FM 100.3 (Mike Grimm, Al Nolen)
Minnesota Golden Gophers projected starters
| No. | Player | Position | Height/Weight | Class | Pts. | Rebs. | Ast |
| 1 | Isaac Asuma | Guard | 6-3 / 196 | SO | 9.2 | 2.5 | 4.3 |
| 0 | Chauncey Willis Jr | Guard | 6-2 / 190 | SR | 7.3 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
| 5 | Jaylen Crocker-Johnson | Forward | 6-8 / 230 | JR. | 11.7 | 10.5 | 1.2 |
| 10 | Cade Tyson | Forward | 6-7 / 200 | SR | 21.8 | 4.3 | 1.3 |
| 4 | Nehemiah Turner | Center | 6-10 / 265 | SO | 1 | 2 | 0.3 |
Stanford Cardinal projected starters
| No. | Player | Position | Height/Weight | Class | Pts. | Rebs. | Ast |
| 4 | Ebuka Okorie | Guard | 6-2 / 185 | FR | 23.8 | 4 | 2.8 |
| 21 | Benny Gealer | Guard | 6-1 / 160 | SR | 10.6 | 2.4 | 1.6 |
| 1 | AJ Rohosy | Forward | 6-8 / 205 | SR | 10 | 6 | 0.6 |
| 8 | Aidan Cammann | Forward | 6-10 /220 | SO | 6.8 | 4.2 | 1.6 |
| 22 | Chisom Okpara | Forward | 6-8 / 225 | SR | 16 | 4.4 | 2 |
Statistical Comparison
| Minnesota | Category | Stanford |
| 74.2 | Pts per game | 83.8 |
| 39.7 | Rebs per game | 37.2 |
| 13.2 | ORB per game | 12 |
| 26.5 | DRB per game | 25.2 |
| 16.7 | Ast per game | 12 |
| 0.685 | Ast per FGM | 0.426 |
| 1.471 | Ast-to-To Ratio | 1.071 |
| 45.3% | FG % | 44.5% |
| 29.0% | 3P % | 32.2% |
| 65.0% | FG % | 74.2% |
Rankings Comparison
| Minnesota | Ranking | Stanford |
| 83 | BPI | 99 |
| 135 | Haslam | 84 |
| 108 | KenPom | 97 |
| 86 | T-Rank | 100 |
| 103 | Average | 95.0 |
THE LAST TIME OUT
Minnesota (4-2) — Last time out, the Golden Gophers fell to San Francisco 77-65. It was a game in which the Gophers shot a season high 42.9% from three-point range but struggled from the free-throw line once again, hitting just 15-of-30 attempts. Nehemiah Turner got the start for the injured Robert Vaihola but only played nine minutes. Langston Reynolds played 31 minutes off the bench, recording 16 points, but was 1-for-7 from the free-throw line. It was not a great night defensively for the Gophers, as they allowed San Francisco to post a 49.1% field goal percentage, including 50% from three-point range.
Stanford (4-1) — Last time out, the Cardinals fell to Seattle University 77-69. Seattle in the game shot 43.8% from three-point range and was sent to the line for 24 total attempts, making 20 of them. The Cardinal struggled shooting in the loss, making just 23 of 63 total field attempts, including 7 of 25 from three-point range, while making 16 of 25 free throw attempts.
Gophers look to find their groove after a small break
It’s been five days since the Gophers last played, and it was likely a break that Minnesota needed. After falling to Missouri 83-60 on November 12, the Gophers followed it up with three rather unsatisfactory performances against Green Bay, Chicago State, and San Francisco.
Against Green Bay and Chicago State, two teams that Minnesota should’ve cruised by in victories, both gave the Golden Gophers all they could handle. Minnesota needed overtime to beat a Green Bay team that won four games all of last season, albeit they’re already at three wins this season.
They also struggled against Chicago State, which is still searching for its first win of the season. Their 66-54 loss to the Gophers is their second closest loss of the season, only behind a 67-63 loss to Illinois-Chicago. In their two games since playing Minnesota, Chicago State has lost 93-54 to Iowa and 90-77 to Purdue Fort Wayne.
Against San Francisco, the Gophers were competitive against a very quality Dons team but ultimately were unable to pull out the win, and faded down the stretch en route to a 77-65 loss.
Stanford will be a good test for the Gophers on Thursday, and one from a program that is perceived to be about an equal for the most part. The Gophers’ schedule doesn’t get much easier coming up, with Santa Clara or Saint Louis before taking on No. 25 Indiana and No. 1 Purdue.
Prediction: Minnesota 75, Stanford 71
Injury Report
The Gophers last time out were without senior guard Maximus Gizzi, junior guard Chance Stephens, junior forward BJ Omot, and senior forward Robert Vaihola.
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