Gophers Close Regular Season at Michigan State on Sunday

Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-13, 7-8 Big Ten)
vs.
Michigan State Spartans (21-7, 12-3 Big Ten)

LOCATION Breslin Center (14,759) - East Lansing, Mich.
DATE / TIME: Sun., Feb 25 - 1 p.m.. (ET), 12 noon (CT)
TELEVISION: Comcast Chicago/Fox SportsNet North
Dave Eanet (play-by-play), Sarah Kustok (analyst)
RADIO / WEBCAST: KBEM-FM-88.5, KRDS 95.5 /
Gopher Radio Network / gophersports.com
Rita Maloney (play-by-play), Lynnette Sjoquist (analyst)

Golden Gopher Watch List — Feb. 25, 2007
• Gophers Travels to Michigan State for Season Finale - Minnesota (15-13, 7-8 Big Ten) travels to Michigan State on Sunday to face the Spartans in the regular-season finale. Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET), 12 noon (CT).
• Comcast/FSN North to Televise Sunday’s Game - Minnesota’s game on Sunday versus Michigan State will be televised live by Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Locally, Fox SportsNet North will air the game live.
• A Lot to Be Settled - Minnesota enters the final game of its Big Ten season with an opportunity to capture as high as the No. 4 seed for next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
• An Unusual Way to Close a Season - The Gophers will be playing Michigan State for the first time this season even though it is the final game of the regular season.
• McCoy One of the Top Freshmen in Big Ten - Gopher freshman guard Brittany McCoy is one of just three freshmen in the Big Ten to start every game for their respective teams this season.

Gophers Close Regular Season at Michigan State
Minnesota (15-13, 7-8 Big Ten) travels to Michigan State on Sunday to face the Spartans in the final game of the 2006-07 regular season. Tip off was changed to a 1 p.m. (ET), 12 noon (CT), to facilitate a television broadcast.

Sunday’s Game Televised Live
The Minnesota/ Michigan State game will be broadcast live by Comcast SportsNet Chicago as part of its Big Ten television package. Dave Eanet will provide the play-by-play, while Sarah Kustok will handle the color commentary. Locally, the game can be viewed live on Fox SportsNet North.

A Lot Riding on Season Finale
Forget Suduko puzzles. Try figuring out the what-ifs when it comes to the seeding for next week’s Big Ten Conference Tournament instead. A number of scenarios exist placing the Golden Gophers anywhere from the fourth to seventh seeds. The top five seeds receive a first-round bye and passage to the quarterfinals.

Breaking It Down for the Golden Gophers
Minnesota enters Sunday’s game with a 7-8 mark in Big Ten play. A logjam exists in the middle of the Big Ten pack this season. Illinois is currently fourth at 8-7 and would secure the No. 4 seed with a win over Purdue on Sunday. Wisconsin is tied with Minnesota at 7-8, while Indiana and Penn State are one game back a 6-9. To make things somewhat easier, Indiana and Penn State square off in University Park on Sunday. OK, here is a look at figuring out the Gophers’ puzzle for the Big Ten Tourney.

The Gophers would earn the No. 4 seed if... Minnesota defeats Michigan State, Illinois falls to Purdue and Wisconsin loses at Iowa. The reasoning: Minnesota has the tie-breaker over Illinois thanks to a 0-1 record against Purdue, a higher-seeded team, while Illinois is 0-2 against the Boilermakers.

The Gophers would earn the No. 5 seed if... Minnesota wins, while both Illinois and Wisconsin lose. In this three-way tie situation, Illinois would come out on top as the No. 4 seed since it has a 2-1 combined record against Minnesota and WIsconsin this season. Minnesota was 2-2 versus Illinois and Wisconsin, better than Wisconsin’s 1-2 mark, thus Minnesota gets the No. 5 seed. Likewise, if Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin all win on Sunday, the Gophers also hold the tie-breaker over the Badgers in a head-to-head tie since Minnesota’s win would have come over a high-seeded team in Michigan State.

The Gophers would earn the No. 6 seed if... Minnesota would fall to this seed with a loss to Michigan State and a Wisconsin loss to Iowa on Sunday. This is where the winner of the Indiana/Penn State would jump above both the Gophers and Badgers into the No. 5 seed even though the teams would finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. Penn State owns the tie-breaker with Minnesota and Wisconsin since the Lady Lions are a combined 2-1 versus the Gophers and Badgers this season. If the three-way tie were between Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where all three teams own a 2-2 composite record versus the other teams, the Hoosiers would get the nod since they defeated the highest seeded team, Illinois, twice to the Gophers’ once.

The Gophers would earn the No. 7 seed if ... Minnesota would fall to the No. 7 seed if all the following would occur: a Minnesota loss, wins by Illinois and Wisconsin. The result of the Penn State versus Indiana game would not factor in.

No Matter What, It’s Been A Successful Season
Way back in October, the Big Ten coaches predicted the Minnesota would finish in eighth place in the Conference standings. A poll of Big Ten media was even worse, pegging the Gophers to finish ninth. For a squad that has often has found itself with four freshmen and a sophomore on the court at some very crucial moments this year, it’s impressive to be battling for fourth-place in the last game of the season.

Maybe This is a Good Omen
It is quite unusual to first see a team in the final game of the regular season. Of course, this oddity is due to the Big Ten’s unbalanced schedule. The last time Minnesota had to wait until their last game of a season to play a Big Ten opponent for the first time? Well, it was Michigan State to close the 1999-2000 season. Minnesota won in overtime, 75-71, in Minneapolis.

McCoy Among Select Trio of Big Ten Rookies
Gopher freshman Brittany McCoy is one of three freshman in the Big Ten Conference to start each and every game this season for their respective teams. Ironically, all three are guards as Ohio State’s Maria Moeller and Wisconsin’s Rae Lin D’Alie join McCoy in the elite group. McCoy’s overall contribution is the best of the three, averaging 9.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.3 minutes per game. D’Alie checks in at 7.1 ppg., 2.3 rpg. and 3.9 apg. in 29.6 minutes, while Moeller collects 4.2 ppg., 2.0 rpg., and 3.3 apg. in 31.3 minutes per game. McCoy is coming two games (Penn State and Michigan) where she scored a career-high 16 points.

Harper Playing Important Minutes Off the Bench
Freshman Zoe Harper has played her best basketball over the last two weeks. Harper has come off the bench and established herself as a solid presence on the low block for the Gophers. She is definitely contributing more than her average of 5.5 points per game over the last four games would suggest. Harper’s size and aggressive play have made a difference on defense as well.

Fox Surpasses 100 Assists for the Season
Sophomore Emily Fox became the 18th player in Gopher history to dish out over 100 assists in a season. Fox currently has 109 assists. She is the first player to hit 100 assists as a sophomore since Lindsay Whalen accomplished the feat with 159 in 2001-02. Fox needs to hit 115 to join the Gophers’ all-time top 10 list in a season.

McCoy Nearing 100 Assists as Well
Emily Fox already has over 100 assists and could soon be joined by freshman Brittany McCoy, who currently has 90 assists. Only once in school history have the Golden Gophers had two players tally over 100 assists in the same season. That season was 2004-05 and the players were guard April Calhoun (121) and center Janel McCarville (119).

Fox Stepped Into a Leadership Role
Emily Fox played some of the best basketball of her career when backcourt running mate Kelly Roysland was sidelined with an injury. When Roysland was out, Fox averaged 18.8 points a game. During the same span, Fox also added 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.

Continued Confidence
Since Emily Fox’s last second jumper won the game at Northwestern, the sophomore guard has averaged 17.2 points per game in Big Ten action. The most points she has scored in a game during the span is a career-high 30 at Iowa. The fewest number of points was 10 points versus Penn State.

Gophers on the Line Leads to Victory
The difference between Minnesota’s trips to the free throw line in its seven Big Ten victories versus the Gophers’ eight conference losses is nothing short of staggering. The Gophers shot an average of 28.3 free throw attempts (198 attempts total) when they captured Big Ten wins. In Minnesota’s Big Ten losses, the Gophers only visited the line 103 times for an average of 12.9 trips per game.

Roysland Returns to Score 1,000th Career Point
Senior Kelly Roysland returned to action, and the starting lineup, on Feb. 11 versus Indiana 2 1/2 weeks after suffering a broken collarbone (Jan. 21 vs. Iowa). Roysland needed only 38 seconds to hit her first basket, a three-pointer from the left baseline which notched her 1,000th point as a Golden Gopher. Roysland is the 17th player in Minnesota history to score 1,000 points in a career. She currently owns 1,019 career points and now ranks in a tie for 15th (Jamie Broback, 2004-06) on the Gophers’ all-time scorers list.

Scouting Michigan State
Michigan State enters Sunday’s contest with a 21-7 record overall, 12-3 in the Big Ten. The Spartans are coming off a disapointing loss 56-46 loss at Illinois, where they shot just 34 percent from the floor and committed 20 turnovers. Michigan State is a very balanced squad with four players averaging in double figures. Victoria Lucas-Perry tops the Spartans at 13.6 points per game. Michigan State has a intriguing freshman phenom in 6-9 center Allyssa DeHaan. DeHaan is putting up impressive numbers: 12.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game.

The Minnesota / Michigan State Series
Michigan State owns a 29-15 lead in the series with Minnesota. The teams split in action last season, each winning on their home court.

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