Defense: D
Daniel Oturu was dominant against Wisconsin as he finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds as his play down low helped open up other opportunities for his teammates.
In particular from three as the Gophers finished the game 9-for-22 (40.9 percent). Minnesota used a strong first half from 3-point range to help open up the game against Wisconsin as they made half of their 10 attempts from three and knocked down their first two triples of the second half to extend their lead to 19 points.
One player for Minnesota who benefitted from Oturu’s good game around the basket was Payton Willis. Willis led all scorers with 21 points as he went an impressive 5-for-7 on his 3-point shot attempts. As there were times where Willis was simply catching and shooting against Wisconsin’s defense.
The Badgers struggled to consistently challenge Minnesota’s shots and when the Gophers had their opportunity of creating an open shot for themselves they took advantage by knocking it down.
After allowing Minnesota to shoot 54.5 percent (18-for-33) from the field in the first half the Badgers only allowed the Gophers to shoot 25 percent (7-for-28) in the second half. Despite their shooting percentage being cut by more than half it didn’t matter given the lead Minnesota had built and that Wisconsin was struggling to find the bottom of the net.
Oturu wasn’t the only Gopher to register a double-double against Wisconsin as Marcus Carr did too with 12 points and 10 assists as he played all 40 minutes. Carr did a great job of working the basketball around for Minnesota’s offense as the Gophers registered 16 assists on 25 made field goals.
Due to the constant ball movement and Wisconsin not being able to find a way to slow it down allowed for Minnesota to generate an offensive rhythm throughout the first half.