Minnesota faces Purdue in Big Ten quarters
Minnesota (20-12, 10-11) vs. No. 2 seed Purdue (23-8, 16-4)
Big Ten Tourney Quarterfinals, United Center, Chicago; Friday, 6 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota is set to match up against Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last met on March 5, when the Golden Gophers outshot Purdue from the field 42.9 percent to 35.3 percent and hit 18 more foul shots on their way to a four-point victory.
SUPER SENIORS: Minnesota's Jordan Murphy, Amir Coffey and Dupree McBrayer have combined to account for 56 percent of the team's scoring this season, including 66 percent of all Golden Gophers points over the last five games.
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Coffey has been directly responsible for 54 percent of all Minnesota field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 22 field goals and 14 assists in those games.
PERFECT WHEN: The Boilermakers are 17-0 when they block at least four opposing shots and 6-8 when they fall shy of that mark. The Golden Gophers are 16-0 when they score at least 69 points and 4-12 on the year when falling short of 69.
LONG-RANGE THREAT: Purdue's Ryan Cline has attempted 222 3-pointers and connected on 41.9 percent of them, and is 9 of 20 over the last three games.
DANGEROUS FROM DEEP: The Purdue offense has made an average of 9.8 3-pointers per game, a mark that ranks the Boilermakers 23rd in the nation. Minnesota has only averaged 5.3 3-pointers per game, which ranks 251st.