Best Bet for 11/13

North Texas at Minnesota (-2.5)

Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN

8:00 pm EST on B1G+

The North Texas Mean Green will visit the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. The Mean Green haven’t played D-1 competition since opening night, where they took down Evansville 80-63 at home. As for the Gophers, they are coming off a bit of a scare where Nebraska-Omaha wouldn’t go away as 21 point underdogs, but Minnesota ultimately walked away with a 68-64 victory. 

The biggest factor in this game is the injury report for Minnesota. Senior point guard Mike Mitchell has already been confirmed out of this contest with an ankle sprain, and All-Conference big man Dawson Garcia is a game-time decision with a groin injury. This is bad news for a team that has other role players on the shelf due to preseason injuries (Tyler Cochran, Frank Mitchell), and the depth will certainly be tested for Minnesota tonight. If Garcia is confirmed to be out before tip off, don’t be surprised if North Texas ends up being the favorite.

This North Texas team is also no slouch. Coach Ross Hodge is in year 2 at the helm after taking over when Grant McCasland took the Texas Tech job, and he did a solid job in year 1. Hodge runs almost an identical style to his former head coach, as the Mean Green play an extremely slow, defensive based style that gives opposing guards a difficult time initiating offense. This will be key against a team that is missing their lead guard, and it could lead to a fair amount of turnovers and easy baskets. The offense for the Mean Green is certainly the weaker side of the ball, but guys like Atin Wright, Jasper Floyd, and Latrell Jossell are all above average perimeter shot makers, and they should get their opportunities against Minnesota’s defense that can’t afford to be as aggressive due to their lack of depth tonight. 

Even if Garcia is able to give it a go tonight, North Texas still looks to be the side in this contest. Garcia would undoubtedly be the best player on the floor, but North Texas may be able to clog up the lane and force the other Gophers to beat them, which I have a hard time seeing them do. North Texas is also a great team to back as an underdog, as their slow paced, defensive style will always keep them in games, and having the better guard play in this matchup is the cherry on top. Take the Mean Green to cover the 2.5 point spread or even come out with the win in Minneapolis.

Best Bet: North Texas +2.5 or +120 ML, Play to PK if Garcia is out