Massachusetts @ Minnesota preview

No. 15 Minnesota will take its high-powered offense to New York City when they open play in the Barclays Center Classic against Massachusetts on Friday in the first-ever meeting between the teams. The Golden Gophers are averaging 95.4 points - 11th in the nation entering Wednesday - on 52.5 percent shooting during a 5-0 start, hitting the century mark for the second time with a 100-57 rout of Alabama A&M on Tuesday.

Jordan Murphy recorded his nation-leading fifth double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, chipping in four steals in another dominant effort. "What I love about him is, he understands that if he plays hard, how good it makes him look," coach Richard Pitino told reporters of his junior forward. "And he's not a selfish kid, he wants to win." The Minutemen have won back-to-back games while averaging 93 points since an overtime loss at Harvard in which they managed just 67. Sophomore guard Luwane Pipkins is averaging 26 points over his last three games after producing 21 and a career-high 10 assists in Tuesday's 85-76 win over Western Carolina.

TV: Noon ET, Stadium

ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS (3-1): The Minutemen started slow in Tuesday's win and also had a lackadaisical stretch to begin the second half as their lead was trimmed to one point with nine minutes left, and coach Matt McCall knows he needs a more complete effort to compete with teams like Minnesota. "I think we're going to be able to take a lot away from this game, break it down and really learn a lot of different things," McCall told reporters. "But I was not happy with our effort at shoot around, much less our effort to start the game." Beyond Pipkins no other player is scoring in double figures but four of them are averaging between 9.3 and 9.8, and junior forward Malik Hines - who leads the team in rebounding (7.3) - is shooting 73.7 percent from the field.

ABOUT MINNESOTA (5-0): Murphy needed just 22 minutes for his latest double-double as Pitino was able to give his relatively inexperienced bench heavy minutes. "These next five games are going to be pretty big and so the bench is going to have to step up a lot," reserve forward Davonte Fitzgerald told reporters after going 5-for-5 from the floor and grabbing eight rebounds. "Our starting five has a really good flow going out there, so it's really our job to come in and not allow any downfalls." Guards Nate Mason and Amir Coffey are averaging 13.6 and 13 points, respectively, and are tied for the team lead with four assists per game.

TIP-INS

1. Pipkins is 15-for-27 from 3-point range in his last three games.

2. Golden Gophers C Reggie Lynch leads the team in rebounding (8.4) and is shooting 68.4 percent.

3. This contest will be played on the campus of LIU-Brooklyn. UMass plays BYU in the second day of the event Saturday afternoon at the Barclays Center and Minnesota takes on Alabama in the nightcap.

PREDICTION: Minnesota 84, Massachusetts 70