GAME NOTES: A couple of teams hoping to rebound from recent defeats face off against each other, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers collide with the Georgia Bulldogs in the championship round of the 2014 NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

The Bulldogs had themselves a three-game win streak before arriving in the Big Apple earlier this week, toppling Stony Brook, Troy and Florida Atlantic, before being turned away by 10th-ranked Gonzaga in an 88-76 final on Wednesday.

Similarly, the Gophers beat up on the likes of Western Kentucky, Franklin Pierce and UMBC all at home before being thwarted by St. John's two night's ago, 70-61, during the semifinals of the tournament.

Minnesota leads the all-time series by a count of 4-1, although one of those victories back in 1993 has been vacated due to NCAA sanctions. The most recent encounter took place in 2002 in Minneapolis when Georgia was ranked 17th in the nation and lost by a 72-69 margin.

The defense by the Red Storm was all over Minnesota, forcing the Golden Gophers into 20 turnovers and limiting the visitors to a mere 35.9 percent shooting from the field, not to mention 6-of-19 behind the 3-point line. Nate Mason made the biggest impact from an offensive standpoint as he tallied 15 points in 26 minutes off the bench, while Carlos Morris was the only starter to score in double figures with 11 points. The other four starters combined to shoot only 11-of-37 from the field.

One of the players who struggled on Wednesday was Andre Hollins, currently shooting just 39.6 percent from the floor but still leading the team in scoring with 12.4 ppg. Mason is close on his tail with 11.6 ppg and not that far behind are Morris and Maurice Walker with 10.8 and 10.6 ppg, respectively. Defensively, Minnesota is limiting the competition to only 37.1 percent shooting from the floor, including 29.3 percent out on the perimeter.

Georgia fell behind Gonzaga right out of the gate and never recovered, trailing by as many as 19 in the second half before settling for the 12-point defeat. Georgia shot a respectable 46.3 percent from the field, but only 4- of-16 behind the 3-point line in the meeting. Charles Mann accounted for 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, followed by J.J. Frazier and Nemanja Djurisic with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bulldogs have been rather strong on offense to this point, producing 77.0 ppg, but at the same time they tend to be a little too forgiving at the defensive end of the floor where they have surrendered 71.8 ppg. Mann not only leads the group in scoring with 14.0 ppg, he is also first in assists with 19, while Marcus Thornton has pitched in with 13.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg, although his numbers still don't cover up the fact that he is making just 55.6 percent of his free-throw tries.

Both of these teams have some strong talent, but since the defense of the Bulldogs will not be as suffocating as that of the Red Storm, Minnesota might be able to see its way through to a victory.