After picking up their second conference loss of the season against Purdue, Maryland travels north to Minneapolis for a matchup against Minnesota on Sunday evening. The Golden Gophers are off to an impressive 11-3 (2-1) start to the season, with conference victories over Nebraska and Michigan. Head coach Ben Johnson has led his team to more wins than they had all of last year, and is just two wins away from matching their mark in 2021-22. It's difficult to tell how good this team truly is though, as the best non-conference team they played was Florida Gulf Coast (ranked #229 by KenPom).
Minnesota is led by their big man in the paint, Dawson Garcia. He's averaging 17 points per game, and is a three-level threat offensively. They have a solid backcourt consisting of 4-star freshman Cam Christie and Pepperdine transfer Mike Mitchell, Jr., who both average double-digit scoring while shooting about 40% from beyond the arc. Their best three-point shooting threat is sophomore forward Joshua Ola-Joseph, who's made 57% of his attempts so far this season. They've done an excellent job at taking care of the ball, averaging 20 assists to just 12 turnovers per game.
Since joining the Big Ten, Maryland is 12-2 against Minnesota and hasn't lost to them since the 2016-17 season. The games aren't typically close either, with just 4 of the 14 matchups being decided by single digits.
KenPom Rankings
- Maryland: #80 (#161 AdjO, #33 AdjD; #296 AdjT)
- Minnesota: #79 (#75 AdjO, #98 AdjD; #206 AdjT)
