University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Men Look to End Long Skid Against Illini
2/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GOPHERS/ILLINI PREVIEW
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-7, 5-5) finish off a mini-homestand as they face the University of Illinois (10-14, 2-9) at Williams Arena in what is the first matchup between the the teams this season. Minnesota plays at Illinois on March 8 to finish the 2007-08 regular season.
Illinois won both games between the teams a season ago and are currently on a 17-game win streak against the Gophers, dating back to 1998-99 season. The last Gopher victory came on Feb. 3, 1999, a victory that has since been vacated.
Illinois holds a commanding 101-57 lead in the all-times series but the Gophers do have a 40-39 mark vs. the Illini in Minneapolis that dates back to a 31-19 win on Feb. 7, 1906.
Illinois is led by senior center Shaun Pruitt, who is averaging team-highs in points (12.7) and rebounds (7.6). Fellow senior Brian Randle and junior Trent Meacham are second on the team with a 10.2 point per game average.
GOPHERS/HAWKEYES NOTES
The Golden Gophers now lead the all-time series 92-80 and 55-31 in Minneapolis.
The Feb. 9 meeting was the only contest of the year between Minnesota and Iowa.
Minnesota snapped a nine-game losing streak on ESPN/ESPN2.
Tubby Smith is now 2-1 in his career against Iowa and moves his career record to 402-152. That includes a 15-7 mark this year.
Minnesota forced Iowa into 21 turnovers. That total was the second-most by the Hawkeyes in Big Ten play this year.
The Golden Gophers outrebounded Iowa 31 to 23 on the night. Minnesota had 12 offensive rebounds on the night to just two for the Hawkeyes. Iowa entered the contest averaging 9.3 offensive rebounds per game.
The Golden Gophers have shot 39-49 (.796) from the free throw line in the last three games. Minnesota shot 8-8 against Wisconsin (2/3), 22-29 against Northwestern (2/6), 9-12 during today’s contest.
Minnesota had 10 steals in the game against Iowa. The Golden Gophers have had 10 steals or more in game 12 times this year.
The 50 points that Iowa scored is the lowest total by a Golden Gopher opponent in Big Ten play since Minnesota limited Purdue to 50 points on Feb. 22, 2006.
With 11 points, freshman Al Nolen was in double figures for the fourth time in his career.
Nolen had a career-high eight assists in the game.
Nolen had three steals in the game. He has recorded three steals or more nine times this season.
Blake Hoffarber started for the second consecutive game, scoring eight points, pulling down four rebounds and grabbing two steals.
Hoffarber hit two three-pointers to bring his season total to 50. He needs one more three-point field goal to tie him for the Minnesota freshman record.
Spencer Tollackson was in double figures for the 12th time this season and 37th time in his career.
Tollackson was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. Over the past three games Tollackson is 12-for-13 from the charity stripe.
Lawrence McKenzie finished with 11 points and was in double figures for the 16th time this year and 68th in his career.
McKenzie has scored 27 points off the bench in the last two games for the Golden Gophers. In the three games he has come off the bench this year, McKenzie has scored 47 points for an average of 19.0 ppg off the bench.
McKenzie had 3 three-point field goals on the day. It was the ninth time this year he made three or more three-point field goals in the game.
TUBBY'S 400TH
With the Gophers’ 77-65 victory over Michigan Jan. 31 in Ann Arbor, head coach Tubby Smith become a member of the 400 win club. Smith is 402-152 in 17 seasons as a head coach (79-43 at Tulsa, 45-19 at Georgia, 263-83 at Kentucky and 15-7 at Minnesota). Coming into the season, only 19 active coaches had amassed at least 400 career wins.
Bob Knight leads all coaches with a record of 902-371 in 42 seasons on the bench with Army, Indiana and four-plus seasons as the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
ASSISTING OTHERS
Lawrence Westbrook became the first Gopher to record double-digit assists on the season and he recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists on Feb. 6 against Northwestern in Evanston. The last Gopher to have a double-double of points and assists was Lawrence McKenzie on Feb. 18. 2007. His double-double is the third for Minnesota this season (Dan Coleman has two point-rebounds double-doubles this season).
SHARP SHOOTER
Freshman Blake Hoffarber not only is tied for Big Ten Conference lead in three-point field accuracy at .472 (50-106), but is on pace to break several school records. He is on pace to break the current school record for three-point field goal percentage (.469 by Travarus Bennett in 2001-02) and three-pointers made (78 by Lawrence McKenzie last season).
Hoffarber is one trey from the Gophers’ mark for three- pointers by a freshman, set by Voshon Lenard (51) in 1991-92.
THREE-POINTERS BY A GOPHER FRESHMAN
Player (Season) 3FGM
Voshon Lenard (1991-92) 51
Blake Hoffarber (2007-08) 50
Kevin Burleson (1999-00) 44
Michael Bauer (2000-01) 34
Quincy Lewis (1995-96) 26
BENCH BONANZA
Minnesota’s bench has provided a big punch this season, outscoring its opponents in 18 of the team’s 22 games. The Gophers hold a cumulative 572-337 bench scoring edge on its foes including a 30-1 advantage over Iowa State on Nov. 20, a 27-4 advantage over UC Riverside on Dec. 1, a 41-7 edge over North Dakota State on Dec. 3, a 44-27 margin against Colorado State, a 26-13 edge on Dec. 12 vs. South Dakota State, a 16-2 margin against Santa Clara on Dec. 22, a 33-10 edge against Nicholls State on Dec. 28, a 22-21 against Michigan State in the conference opener on Jan. 5 and a 31-14 edge over Northwestern on Jan. 9. The Gophers bench also outscored Penn State 29-8 on Jan. 12, Ohio State 20-6 on Jan. 26, Northwestern 20-10 on Feb. 6 in Evanston and held a 31-7 bench scoring edge over Iowa on Feb. 9.
A Gopher has scored at least five points off the bench in 19 of the team’s 20 games, led by Blake Hoffarber’s 21 points against Colorado State, 15 points against Northwestern on Jan. 9 and a 19-point effort against Penn State on Jan. 12. Hoffarber was also the leading bench scorer in all three Duel in the Desert games (Dec. 28-30) with 13, 10 and 13 points against Nicholls State, Kennesaw State and UNLV, respectively. Al Nolen scored seven off the bench against Michigan State while Damian Johnson and Kevin Payton both scored six points off the bench against Santa Clara on Dec. 22. Lawrence McKenzie scored 20 points off the bench against Iowa State and 16 at Northwestern on Feb. 6; Johnson chipped in a career-high 12 points against Army; Hoffarber scored 12 off the bench against Florida State while Hoffarber and Johnson chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench against UC Riverside. Nolen had 15 to lead the Gophers against NDSU, while Johnson contributed 10 points against South Dakota State.
DEFENSE-DEFENSE-DEFENSE
The Gophers defense was strong through the non-conference portion of the schedule and it has continued into the Big Ten schedule. Through 22 games, the Gophers have averaged 10.2 steals per game, tops in the conference, blocked 4.5 shots per game, fifth in the conference, have averaged 21.7 defensive rebounds per game while holding opponents to 62.9 points per game.
Individually, Gopher freshman Al Nolen leads the Gophers and also the Big Ten Conference in steals with 2.3 spg while sophomore Damian Johnson holds the team-lead in blocks, swatting 1.5 per game (fifth in the conference).
COLEMAN ON THE CHARTS
Senior Dan Coleman became just the 34th player in school history to record 1,000 career points, thanks to a 22-point effort in the Gophers 91-74 victory over Colorado State on Dec. 8. Coleman has added 201 points since and currently is in 19th place on the career points list with 1,219. Mychal Thompson (1974-78) sits atop the list with 1,992 career points.
Also, with 14 rebounds vs. Northwestern (1/9) Coleman become just the 17th Gopher player with 1,000 points and 500 boards in a career. Michael Bauer was the last Gopher to join the club, reaching the milestone in 2004. With two blocks against Wisconsin on Feb. 3, Coleman now has 98 career blocks, moving him into ninth place on Minnesota’s all-time list.
FRESHMAN FIRE
Minnesota has relied heavily on its two freshmen, Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber this season.
Nolen is averaging 4.7 points, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 21.2 minutes per game this season. He has tied for or led the Gophers in assists in 12 of the 20 games he has played in, including a career-high eight Feb. 9 vs. Iowa. He has recorded 48 steals (2.3 spg), which ranks him first overall in the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the Big Ten in assists at 3.6 per game and eighth in the conference with a 1.70 assist/turnover ratio.
Hoffarber is averaging 9.2 for the Gophers this season and is shooting .500 (70-140) from the floor, including .472 (50-106) from behind the arc, the best percentage in the Big Ten Conference. He scored a season-high 21 points, hitting 6-of-11 three pointers, off the bench Dec. 8 against Colorado State. Hoffarber also came off the bench to contribute 13 points Dec. 1 against UC Riverside, 10 points against North Dakota State on Dec. 3, nine points Dec. 12 against South Dakota State and 13, 10 and 13 points, respectively during the three-game Duel in the Desert after Christmas. He chipped in with five points off the bench in the Gophers conference opener Jan. 5 at Michigan State, scored 15 points in the Gophers conference home opener on Jan. 9 vs. Northwestern, 19 at Penn State on Jan. 12, 15 points in the first start of his Gopher career on Feb. 6 at Northwestern and eight points in another start vs. Iowa on Feb. 9.
BIG CROWDS AT THE BARN
The Barn was packed to the limit for a fourth straight game Feb. 9 against Wisconsin, as a sellout crowd of 14,625 was announced. Williams arena also saw sellouts against Indiana on Jan. 17, against Michigan State on Jan. 20 and against Wisconsin on Feb. 3. The crowd that packed the Barn to see the Gophers/Indiana tilt was the first sellout since Feb. 5, 2005 against Wisconsin. Minnesota is averaging 12,964 fans per game this season, the highest per game average since 1999-2000 when an average of 13,767 attended Gopher games.
STAT SHEET FILLER
Minnesota forward Damian Johnson has been filling up the stat sheet all season. The sophomore from Thibodaux, La. started the regular season with a bang, as he came off the bench to score 12 points, grab eight rebounds, block four shots while also stealing four balls, all career highs at the time. He tied a career-high in points on Dec. 1 against UC Riverside while also grabbing seven rebounds, blocking three shots and stealing three balls. Johnson dished out a career-high five assists and tied a career-high with five steals against Ohio State on Jan. 26. He also contributed eight points and six rebounds. Johnson established a new career-high with five blocks against Wisconsin to go along with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal while playing a career-high 34 minutes. Against Iowa on Feb. 9, Johnson played 31 minutes off the bench and scored nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and also contributed a team-high seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and an assist.
Johnson is sixth on the team in scoring at 7.3 ppg, second on the team in rebounding at 4.4 rpg, leads the team in blocks with 34 (1.6 bpg) and has the second most steals (40, 1.8 spg), which is fifth most in the conference. Over the last 10 games, all Big Ten Conference games, Johnson has averaged 7.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 1.6 assists and 25.6 minutes per game while shooting .527 (29-55) from the field.
Johnson helped limit Indiana’s Eric Gordon to 12 points on Jan. 17. Gordon managed just 3-for-8 shooting on the night. It was Gordon’s second lowest total this year, and lowest in Big Ten play. The three field goals were also tied for his second-lowest total of the season. He came into the Jan. 17 contest averaging 23.0 points per game. Johnson forced seven Gordon turnovers, while racking up five steals, three blocks and scored eight points.
