The Rutgers Guard Minnesota Must Contain to Advance in Big Ten Tournament

The Gophers are favored to beat Rutgers on Wednesday night and advance to the next round of the Big Ten tournament. If the Scarlet Knights give Minnesota any trouble, it will be because of junior guard Tariq Francis. Here's why.

Slowing down Francis

Rutgers has won just six Big Ten games this season, and Francis has averaged 23.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in those games. Those numbers are significantly higher than his season-high averages of 16.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Langston Reynolds is among the best perimeter defenders in the Big Ten, and he showcased those skills in Minnesota's lone regular-season matchup with Rutgers. Francis was limited to just 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting from the field. The Scarlet Knights have the worst offense in the Big Ten, according to KenPom's offensive rating. It's hard for them to generate any offensive consistency unless Francis is at his best.

Tariq Francis converts with contact 🤩 @RutgersMBB

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/zqJqgaPYV4
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 18, 2026

Bobby Durkin's three-point shooting

Since the calendar flipped to February, Durkin has averaged 14.2 points in Minnesota's five wins and just 11.2 points in their five losses. He has taken his scoring to another level with Jaylen Crocker-Johnson out of the lineup, and the Gophers will need to see that continue this week in Chicago. He has shot 55.2% from three in those five wins compared to 39.0% in the five losses.

The Gophers don't have a very large margin for error with just a six-man rotation, and their offense becomes much tougher to defend when Durkin is converting from long range. There might be no bigger key to a Big Ten tournament run than Durkin knocking down threes consistently.

Reynolds' playmaking

Reynolds isn't just Minnesota's best defender; he also leads the team with 4.5 assists per game. In the same 10-game sample size since the start of February, he's averaging 6.0 dimes in their five wins, compared to just 4,0 per game in the five losses. It might not seem like a big difference, but his facilitating has seemingly opened up his scoring, with two of his three 20-point games this season coming in wins over Northwestern and UCLA during that stretch.

Cade Tyson has shown up offensively, most consistently for the Gophers this season. When Durkin and Reynolds are at their best, is when they become a dangerous team to play. Their versatility on both ends of the floor makes Minnesota a tough matchup for anytime to face in a single-elimination tournament.