After losing its first road game, Minnesota is back where it feels most comfortable.
The Golden Gophers (2-1) will return home to face Green Bay (1-3) on Saturday evening in Minneapolis. Minnesota is 2-0 at home, where it posted victories against Gardner-Webb and Alcorn State in its first two games with Niko Medved as coach.
Medved is eager to see his players try to bounce back from an 83-60 loss at Missouri on Wednesday night. He liked what he saw from them in terms of rebounding, but he will look for a more consistent effort after his players struggled to maintain a fast start against Missouri.
“I thought early in the game, our guys had a great mindset,” Medved said. “We were the more aggressive team. We knew they’d have a change-up, and they decided to go to the 2-3 zone.
“I thought it kind of stymied us there in the first half and allowed them to get back in the game. … We struggled to get any consistency going on offense, but really at the end of the day, we just couldn’t get enough stops.”
The Gophers will look to Cade Tyson to lead the way against Green Bay. Tyson, a transfer from North Carolina, is averaging 22.7 points in his first three games with Minnesota.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson also has shined in the early going. He is averaging a double-double with 11.3 points and 14 rebounds per game. Langston Reynolds (11.0 points per game) and Isaac Asuma (10.0) also are scoring in double digits.
Green Bay’s top scorer is Marcus Hall, who is averaging 15.3 points to go along with a team-high 5.5 rebounds. C.J. O’Hara ranks second with 9.0 points per game, and Caden Wilkins rounds out the top three scorers with 8.0 points per game.
Doug Gottlieb, the coach of Green Bay, said he wanted his players to stay confident despite a difficult nonconference schedule to start the season.
“We’re trying to get better,” Gottlieb said. “What happens is, once you get into game mode, you’re so focused on prep, prep, prep, prep, that sometimes you lose sight of the big picture. The big picture is conference play Dec. 4 — Robert Morris at home.”
