The Minnesota Golden Gophers are set to visit the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday night. Both squads arrive unbeaten early in the season, but this matchup from Columbia is the first real test for either of these teams this season. Before this matchup between the Big Ten and SEC tips off in college hoops, you can find my Minnesota vs Missouri prediction below.
Pick: Minnesota +6.5
Confidence: ★★★☆☆
The Tigers (3-0) come in with strong offensive numbers, averaging 94.3 points per game while shooting 57.2% from the field so far. Their recent 106-68 win over VMI featured forward Mark Mitchell dropping 24 points and 10 rebounds. But there is a huge difference between playing teams like SEMO and VMI and playing a power conference opponent.
Minnesota (2-0) is still finding its identity under new head coach Niko Medved. They earned a 95-50 win over Alcorn State in their last game, driven by guard Cade Tyson’s 21 points and strong rebounding from Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Robert Vaihola. Minnesota’s strength thus far has been in the paint and on the glass. But this is their first game of the season against power conference size and physicality and it will be interesting to see how the Golden Gophers handle that.
It is also worth noting that this is the first road game of the season for the Golden Gophers. This is a great test early in the Medved era for his program, as they have to win on the road against a high-major opponent without a ton of experience to draw on under their current coaching staff.
Score Projection: Missouri 78 – Minnesota 75
Win Probability: Missouri 62%, Minnesota 38%
I would give Missouri the upper hand in this contest from Columbia on Wednesday night. But I am not anticipating a lopsided game by any means. I'll take the points with Minnesota, as they should be able to do enough on the glass to prevent Missouri from steamrolling them, even if the Golden Gophers face more resistance on the backboards than they did against their first two cupcake opponents.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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