University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Gophers Head to Ann Arbor to Battle Wolverines
2/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Matchup
The Minnesota Golden Gophers look to bouce back for the third straight week from a weekend loss. The Gophers travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the Wolverines. Michigan will also try to rebound from an 0-2 week, losing at Michigan State and Purdue. The Wolverines were without junior guard Daniel Horton and his status remains unclear for this week's games. Minnesota and Michigan stand a game apart in the Big Ten standings. The Gophers are tied with Indiana for fourth place in the league standings while Michigan is tied with Iowa and Ohio State for sixth.
Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan has lost four straight, but are 10-2 at home this season and have the most frontcourt depth in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have been hampered the last week without veteran guard Daniel Horton. Horton is averaging 12.4 points per game, but has been suspended indefinitely. The burden falls to sophomore guard Dion Harris. Harris was a Big Ten All-Freshman team member last season and leads the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg and assists at 3.5 apg. In the frontcourt, Michigan rotates four multi-dimensional post players. Junior Chris Hunter leads the big guys in scoring at 11.1 ppg. Sophomore Courtney Sims averages 10.3 points and 1.8 blocks per game. Sophomore Brent Petway is an outstanding athlete who averages 7.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. And junior Graham Brown, who has been hampered by injury this season, is the team's top rebounder in just 12 games at 6.4 rebounds per contest.
The Series
Michigan leads the series 74-59 (including vacated games). In Ann Arbor, the Wolverines lead 49-18*. The Gophers have won six of the last eight games in the series and won the only meeting between the two teams last season, 81-78, at Williams Arena.
What's Next
Minnesota returns home for a nationally televised ESPN game vs. Wisconsin at 11 a.m., Saturday at "The Barn". All fans attending the game are asked to "Go Gold for the Gophers". Wear your gold for Saturday's matchup vs. the Badgers.
