Gophers Face Indiana in Second Round of Big Ten Tournament

GOPHERS/HOOSIERS PREVIEW
Minnesota’s Big Ten Tournament title hopes are still alive after defeating Northwestern 55-52 in the opening round. Round two pits the Gophers against the third seeded Indiana Hoosiers who have defeated Minnesota twice this season.  

However, the Gophers are 1-0 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament against the Hoosiers. Minnesota, then seeded No. 5, defeated the No. 4 seeded Hoosiers 71-55 in the second round of the 2005 tournament.The Gophers were 2-1 against the Hoosiers that season, the only previous time the two teams have met three times in a season.

Overall, the Hoosiers hold a 86-57 record against the Gophers in the all-time series including a 15-game win streak between 1983 and 1989.

Indiana is led by All-Big Ten guard Eric Gordon, who is averaging a conference best 21.5 points per game, and Big Ten Player of the Year, senior forward D.J. White, who is second in the conference at 17.1 ppg and leads the conference in rebounding at 10.3 rpg.

GOPHERS/WILDCATS NOTES
-The Gophers are now 7-10 all-time in Big Ten Tournament play.
- Minnesota leads the all-time series against Northwestern, 86-56, including 2-1 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament. All three
meetings in the tournament came in the first round.
- The three-point margin ties for the closest between a No. 6 and a No. 11 seed in the tournament.
-Northwestern’s 39 field goal attempts are a season low.
- Minnesota trailed 34-18 with 2:26 left in the first half but used a 24-8 run to tie the game at 42-42 to finish off the win. This ties the largest comeback of the season for the Gophers. They also came back from 16 down at Penn State on Jan. 12.
- Minnesota has won a Big Ten Tournament game in five of the past eight seasons
- With a three-pointer in the first half, Lawrence McKenzie moved into sole possession of second on the Gophers’ single-season three-point field goals list (72), just six off his own record set last season.
- Lawrence Westbrook scored a career-high 17 points. His previous best was 16 against Ohio State on March 1, 2008. He also tied a career-high with six field goals made
- Ten of Minnesota’s 19 shots in the first half were three-point attempts. For the game the Gophers shot 20 of their 44 field-goal attempts from three-point range.
- The 21 first-half points are the fewest by the Gophers this season. The previous low was 23 vs. Wisconsin on Feb. 3.
- The 44 field-goal attempts by Minnesota was a season low for the Gophers.

TUBBY'S TOURNEYS
Head Coach Tubby Smith has had great success in conference tournament action. He holds a 29-10 (.744) all-time mark in tourney play. He has won five conference tournaments, all at Kentucky (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004). He has won at least one game in 13 of 15 conference tournaments. His Kentucky Wildcats did not win a game in 2000 and 2002.

SHARP SHOOTER
Freshman Blake Hoffarber not only has the fourth highest three-point field accuracy in Big Ten Conference at .434 (66-152), but looks to move in on teammate Lawrence McKenzie’s record for three point field goals in a season (78) set last year.

Hoffarber has already broken the Gophers’ mark for three-pointers by a freshman, which was set by Voshon Lenard (51) in 1991-92.

THREE-POINTERS BY A GOPHER FRESHMAN
Player (Season) 3FGM
Blake Hoffarber (2007-08) 66
Voshon Lenard (1991-92) 51
Kevin Burleson (1999-00) 44
Michael Bauer (2000-01) 34
Quincy Lewis (1995-96) 26

SEASON RECORD WATCH
Minnesota has 281 steals on the season, which ranks second all-time in school history. The record of 292 was set in 2004-05. Al Nolen ranks eighth in season steals all-time with 59. His 32 steals in conference play ties him with Qunicy Lewis for seventh all-time. Damian Johnson has 34 thefts in conference action, which ranks sixth all-time.

The Gophers also have 486 assists, which is just four from the all-time top five for a season. The record of 558 was set in 1989-90. Nolen is tied for ninth all-time with Kevin Burleson (2001-02) and Arriel McDonald (1991-92) with 68 assists in Big Ten play this season.

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 287 points since and currently is 15th place on the career points list with 1,305. 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 his one blocked shot against Illinois on March 8, Coleman now has 111 career blocks and is tied with John Shasky for eighth place on Minnesota’s all-time list. Coleman has also played in 124 career games, tied for the third most with Ernest Nzigamasabo (1991-94) in team history.

Upcoming Events