Gopher men’s hoops looking ahead to Purdue

Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball head coach Richard Pitino met with media, via Zoom, Friday morning to discuss the upcoming battle against the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday evening.

***CLICK ON THE VIDEO BOX TO HEAR FROM PITINO, LIAM ROBBINS, AND TRE WILLIAMS***

Pitino talked about how their practices are going, getting back to fundamentals, the layoff for both teams, Purdue being a hard team to prepare for, the need to make more three-point shots, nobody wanting to make a play against Maryland outside of Marcus Carr, his thoughts on the conference tournament, Purdue big Treveon Williams being one of the best bigs in the country, the bench helping create energy. Purdue’s roster, freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. and his trajectory, and his thoughts at halfway point of the Big Ten schedule.

Junior center Liam Robbins discussed playing vs. Williams, his own basketball journey, the team regaining confidence on offense, how badly the team wants to get their first road win, and playing Purdue’s center, Zach Edey, who is 7-feet-4.

Sophomore guard Tre’ Williams spoke about taking better shots, his balancing act of wanting to shoot when he enters the game versus getting into the flow of the offense, the bench creating energy, how he takes a lead role, how proud he is of his cousin Jalen Suggs, and how grateful he is to be playing.

Tip-off Saturday from Mackey Arena in West Lafayette is set for 6:30 p.m. Purdue last played a game on Jan. 22, the Gophers Jan. 23.