Gophers Face Illinois in Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final

GOPHERS/ILLINI PREVIEW
Minnesota’s Big Ten Tournament title hopes are still alive after defeating Indiana 59-58 on a Blake Hoffarber buzzer beater in the second round. Round three pits the Gophers against the 10th seeded Illinois Fighting Illini, who have defeated Minnesota twice this season and 18 straight overall. The Gophers have not defeated Illinois since a 67-65 victory on March 3, 1993. The Gophers are 0-3 against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament.

Overall, Illinois holds a 103-57 record against Minnesota in the all-time series, dating back to a 31-19 Gopher win in 1906.

Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith is 1-2 vs. Illinois, with the win occurring in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament while Smith was at the University of Tulsa.

GOPHERS/HOOSIERS NOTES
- The No. 3 seed and No. 6 seed have met each other in 10 of the 11 tournaments. Each seed has won five times, and the No. 6 seed has now won the last three over the No. 3 seed (including tonight’s game).
- Tomorrow’s game featuring Illinois and Minnesota will have the two lowest combined seeds ever in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal game.
- Tonight’s Minnesota vs. Indiana game had eight ties in the second half.
- Minnesota is making its third Big Ten semifinal appearance in school history. All three have come by defeating a higher seed in the quarterfinals.
- The Golden Gophers have never played in the title game. To do so, they will have to snap a 19-game losing streak against Illinois. The last time they defeated the Illini was Feb. 3, 1999 in Minneapolis.
- Minnesota is 0-3 vs. Illinois all-time in the Big Ten Tournament.
- In yesterday’s first round, Minnesota overcame a 16-point deficit to win. Tonight the Gophers relinquished a 16-point lead, eventually prevailing in the end.
- Lawrence McKenzie had three three-pointers, giving him a three-pointer made in 29 of 32 games this season. He has made multiple three-pointers in 23 of those 29 games and has a combined 26 treys in his last eight games. With 76 total three-pointers on the year, he is second all-time in a single season in Gopher history.
- Minnesota’s defense has held its opponent to just a 30.6 percentage from the field in its last three halves of basketball.
- Minnesota shot 93.8 percent from the line (15-16), which is the second best free-throw shooting percentage in Big Ten Tournament history.
- In four of its last five Big Ten Tournament games, Minnesota has held its opponents under 60 points.
- Damian Johnson set career highs in points (17) and field goals (6).

TUBBY'S TOURNEYS 
Head Coach Tubby Smith has had great success in conference tournament action. He holds a 30-10 (.750)  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.

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 293 points since and currently is 15th place on the career points list with 1,311. 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 Indiana on March 14, Coleman now has 112 career blocks, eighth most in school history. Coleman has also played in 125 career games, the third most in team history.

SHARP SHOOTER
Freshman Blake Hoffarber not only has the sixth highest three-point field accuracy in Big Ten Conference at .429 (67-156), 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) 67
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 283 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 497 assists, which ranks fourth  all-time in school history. 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.

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