GAME NOTES: The Minnesota Golden Gophers will attempt to end their three-game skid as they square off with the Michigan Wolverines in a Big Ten Conference matchup at the Crisler Center.

Minnesota fell to 0-3 in conference play on Tuesday with a 74-72 overtime home loss to Ohio State. The Golden Gophers suffered setbacks in Purdue (72-68) and Maryland (70-58) after a seven-game winning streak to end their non-conference slate. Coach Richard Pitino's team has risen on the national leaderboards to second in steals per game (11.7) and assists (18.6), along with a fifth overall ranking in turnover margin (+6.3). Minnesota was hoping to make a big leap this season after returning nearly its entire roster from the 2014 NIT Championship unit. With four players hitting on 40 percent of their tries from beyond the arc, Minnesota is shooting 39.9 percent from 3-point range to rank third in the Big Ten. On the season, the Gophers are averaging nearly 80 points per game (79.9).

The Wolverines improved to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in league play on Tuesday with a 73-64 decision at Penn State. Michigan began its conference slate with a 73-65 overtime win over Illinois before being defeated, 64-51, by Purdue on the road. Coach John Beilein's team is ranked 11th in the Big Ten in scoring offense (67.3 ppg) and ninth in scoring defense (62.7 ppg). Michigan had lost five of its previous seven games before its win over the Nittany Lions.

Saturday afternoon's game will be the 154th all-time meeting in the series. The Wolverines lead, 88-65 after winning the last six games against Minnesota and five straight at Williams Arena.

The Gophers' loss to OSU was heartbreaking, as the Buckeyes' Marc Loving sank a jumper with 5.6 seconds left in overtime to bury Minnesota. Maurice Walker led the team with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor and nine boards, while DeAndre Mathieu netted 17 points. Andre Hollins finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Minnesota has four players averaging in double figures led by Walker, who leads with 12.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.6 bpg and is shooting 63.2 percent from the field. Carlos Morris is second on the Gophers with 12.7 points, while Andrew Hollins is scoring 12.4 and Nate Mason 10.0.

Although the Wolverines' season averages on the offensive end are not very impressive, they put together a solid showing versus PSU, connecting on 53.3 percent of their field goal tries, including a 9-of-15 clip from 3-point range. Michigan also converted 16-of-19 attempts at the free-throw line and committed six less personal fouls (14) than its opposition. Caris LeVert and Zak Irvin scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, to spearhead the charge. Derrick Walton Jr. added 12 points for the Wolverines. LeVert is posting team- high averages of 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Irvin is chipping in 14.7 ppg and 4.1 rpg, while Walton is tallying 10.3 ppg,4.4 rpg and 3.4 apg. Junior guard Spike Albrecht netted 17 points in the loss to Purdue, but was held scoreless by PSU.

The Wolverines suffered some disheartening losses to NJIT (72-70), Eastern Michigan (45-42) and SMU (64-51) at home this season. The win over PSU was a step in the right direction, but the Gophers are a much more dangerous team. Minnesota could escape its trip to Ann Arbor with a victory if it can somehow limit LeVert and Irvin.