Lansing State Journal: MSU expects 'completely different' Minnesota team

per the Lansing State Journal:

Xavier Tillman didn’t watch much of Minnesota’s first-round victory over Louisville – only about four minutes of live action before the Michigan State big man had to begin preparing for his own NCAA tournament game.

But it was enough.

Enough to realize that the team Michigan State will face in the second round on Saturday isn’t the same one the Spartans blew out on Feb. 9 by 24 points.

“When they came to East Lansing, they let us bring the pressure to them, offensively and defensively,” Tillman said. “As I watched against Louisville, they were the aggressor.”

Tillman’s sentiment has been a common one in the days leading up to the rematch. Players and coaches on both sides agree that the opponent is familiar, but not the same.

“They’re a completely different team,” Izzo said.

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com...-gophers-completely-different-now/3251837002/

Go Gophers!!

I don’t think we have much of a shot, but the one wild card is if throngs of Minnesota fans make it down there tonight and turn this into a quasi home game. I’m not expecting a massive turnout though, bc MN fans are expecting us to lose.

If Bradley had somehow held on vs MSU on Thursday, I think gopher fans would’ve come down by the thousands for tonight’s game.

WanderingGopher said:

I don’t think we have much of a shot, but the one wild card is if throngs of Minnesota fans make it down there tonight and turn this into a quasi home game. I’m not expecting a massive turnout though, bc MN fans are expecting us to lose.

If Bradley had somehow held on vs MSU on Thursday, I think gopher fans would’ve come down by the thousands for tonight’s game.

Click to expand...

Didn't we beat a #1 team when Pitino still had Joey King? Anything is possible.