Minnesota really struggled down the stretch in the regular season, which cost them a shot at the Big Dance, but they looked good in their opening round win in the NIT. <\/p>\n
Venue\/ Stadium: BankUnited Center, Coral Gables, FL<\/strong> Matchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Miami Hurricanes Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n Miami played great defense in their opening round NIT win and NCAAB lines have the Canes as 5-point favorites in this game with a total of 132.<\/p>\n In their opening NIT games Miami beat Valparaiso 65-50 and Minnesota beat La Salle 70-61.<\/p>\n This season Minnesota is at 17-13-1 ATS with an O\/U record of 15-15-1 and Miami is 15-12-2 ATS with an O\/U record of 15-14.<\/p>\n In Miami’s win in the first round of the NIT they played stellar defense against Valpo holding them to only 35.8% shooting and they also won the battle of the boards. The Golden Gophers are not a high-scoring team with only 3 players averaging over 9 ppg.<\/p>\n In the win over La Salle Minnesota shot over 50% from the floor and F Austin Hollins was the game’s high scorer going for 21 points and the G duo of Austin Hollins and Andre Hollins combined for 29 points. These guys have to play well again in this game and they have to shoot better from beyond the 3-pt line, as in the La Salle game they were only 1\/9 from deep. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Miami leading scorer Kenny Kadji only had 2 points in the win over Valpo while the G duo of Rion Brown and Shane Larkin combined for 30 points.<\/p>\n C\/F Kadji and C Reggie Johnson (10.1 ppg 7.2 rpg) are both over 6’10” and they will be a handful for the Minnesota frontcourt. The Golden Gophers leading rebounder is Rodney Williams and he is only 6’7″ and he will need help in the paint in this game and freshman C Elliott Eliason has the height, but lacks much experience and he only played 14 minutes in the win over La Salle.<\/p>\n Both teams have a solid backcourt and the team that can knock down the open J’s and hit some 3’s has a much better chance to win this game and that aspect is even more important for Minnesota since the Canes have a better frontcourt.<\/p>\n In some betting trends for this 2nd round NIT game Minnesota is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall, and they have an Under record of 5-1-1 in their last 7 non-conference games.<\/p>\n Miami is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games, 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall, and they have an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 games.<\/p>\n
\nTime\/Date: 9 PM EST Monday, March 19, 2012<\/strong>
\nNCAA Odds From: Bovada<\/a><\/strong>
\nMoneyline: MINN +180 \/ Miami -220 <\/strong>
\nSpread (ATS): Miami -5 <\/strong>
\nOver\/Under: 132<\/strong><\/p>\n