MSU will also be looking for a bit of revenge after its letdown last year against Minnesota at the Breslin Center. MSU held a 75-69 lead with 34 seconds left in that game before Minnesota went on a 9-3 run in the final 34 seconds and then stole the game 96-90 in overtime. 

MSU had a noticeable lack of energy in Tuesday's contest against the Hawkeyes, as they shot a season low 23.1 percent from the perimeter and scored a season low 23 points in the first half. 

Senior Bryn Forbes only managed three points on 1-for-5 shooting from the field, including 0-for-3 from behind the three point arc. Forbes struggled with foul trouble against Iowa, which could be part of the reason for his cold shooting night. 

MSU will be without its senior do-it-all captain, guard Denzel Valentine for the third straight game as he works his way back from a minor knee surgery. In his absence, junior guard Eron Harris has stepped up for MSU, averaging 24 points per game, shooting about 50 percent from the field and getting to the foul line, averaging 11 free throws per game. 

MSU has not made the trip to Minnesota for a basketball game since 2012, when No. 9 Minnesota, led then by head coach Tubby Smith, beat No. 18 MSU 76-63 in Valentine and Matt Costello's freshman season. 

Minnesota is now led by Richard Pitino, the son of Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who is in his third season with Minnesota. 

Minnesota has only three players above the sophomore class seeing significant playing time: senior leading scoring forward Joey King, who is averaging 13.2 points per game, senior guard Carlos Morris, averaging 11.9 points per game and junior guard Charles Buggs at 8 points per game. 

King and Morris both had success against MSU in last season's upset at Breslin Center, scoring 17 and 20 points respectively, including scoring all nine points for Minnesota in the final 34 seconds to force overtime. 

While freshman Deyonta Davis has been solid in his role this season for MSU, averaging 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, the Golden Gophers have a talented freshman of their own in 6-foot-6 forward Jordan Murphy. Murphy is second in the Big Ten in rebounding averaging 8.5 per game, including a league best 3.2 offensive rebounds per game to go along with his 10.8 points per game. Murphy has also posted double-doubles in three of his past four games. 

Minnesota is coming off of a loss against Ohio State in which they allowed a season high 24 assists to an Ohio State team which only averages 13 assists per game. This weakness plays right to MSU's greatest strength -- sharing the ball. MSU is third nationally in assists per game at 21.4. 

Another area MSU might be able to exploit against Minnesota is on the glass. MSU is eighth nationally averaging 43.6 rebounds per game, while Minnesota averages only 36.6 while they give up an average of 39.2.