University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Illinois in Regular Season Finale
3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GOPHERS/ILLINI PREVIEW
Minnesota visits Champaign, Ill. to face the Illini in what is the last regular season game for both teams. The Big Ten Tournament begins March 13 in Indianapolis. The Gophers are currently the sixth seed with Illinois sitting in the 10th spot.  
The Gophers will be trying to avenge an earlier defeat by the Illini, 84-60 on Feb. 12 at Williams Arena. With the loss, the Gophers have now lost the last 17 games in the series.
Overall, Illinois holds a 102-57 record against Minnesota in the all-time series, dating back to a 31-19 Gopher win in 1906.
Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith is 1-1 vs. Illinois, with the win occurring in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament while Smith was at the University of Tulsa.
TOURNEY TIME
After a year at Chicago’s United Center, the Big Ten Tournament returns to Indianapolis’ Conseco Fieldhouse for the next five tournaments beginning this season. In its first 10 years of existence, the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament has welcomed more than 950,000 fans and issued over 6,000 media credentials.
Five different league representatives have become Big Ten Tournament champions, with Michigan State (1999, 2000), Illinois (2003, 2005) and Iowa (2001, 2006) claiming the honor twice along with Ohio State (2007) and Wisconsin (2004) capturing one. In addition, every tournament game in the past 10 years has been televised live on CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN Plus.
2007-08 Big Ten Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 13
Game 1 #8 Seed vs. #9 Seed Noon ET (Big Ten Network)
Game 2 #7 Seed vs. #10 Seed 2:30 p.m. ET*( ESPN2)
Game 3 #6 Seed vs. #11 Seed 5 p.m. ET* (ESPN2)
Friday, March 14
Game 4 #1 Seed vs. Game 1 Winner Noon ET (ESPN)
Game 5 #4 Seed vs. #5 Seed 2:30 p.m. ET* (ESPN)
Game 6 #2 Seed vs. Game 2 Winner 6:30 p.m. ET* (Big Ten Network)
Game 7 #3 Seed vs. Game 3 Winner 9 p.m. ET* (Big Ten Network)
Saturday, March 15
Game 8 Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner 1:40 p.m. ET (CBS)
Game 9 Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner 4:05 p.m. ET* (CBS)
Sunday, March 16
Game 10 Tournament Championship 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
* Approximate game times
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 405-156 in 17 seasons as a head coach (79-43 at Tulsa, 45-19 at Georgia, 263-83 at Kentucky and 18-11 at Minnesota). Coming into the season, only 19 active coaches had amassed at least 400 career wins.
Bob Knight leads all coaches (active & retired) 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.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
At this time last year, the Gophers were 9-19 but that is not the only major difference between the two seasons. Minnesota is averaging 9.8 more points per game this season (70.4-60.6) while allowing 2.4 points less per game (63.8-66.2).
COMPARING 2006-07 FINAL STATS WITH 2007-08
Category (per game) 06-07 07-08 Margin
Points Scored 60.6 70.4 +9.8
Points Allowed 66.2 63.8 -2.4
Rebounding Margin -4.2 +1.6 +5.8
Field Goal Pct. .431 .448 +.017
Three-Point FG Pct. .353 .377 +.024
Assists 12.8 16.0 +3.2
Asst/Turnover Ratio -0.9 +1.1 +2.0
Steals 4.8 9.3 +4.5
DEFENSE
The Gophers defense was strong through the non-conference portion of the schedule and it has continued into the Big Ten schedule. Through 29 games, the Gophers have averaged 9.3 steals per game, tops in the conference, blocked 4.2 shots per game, fifth in the conference, have averaged 21.6 defensive rebounds per game while holding opponents to 63.8 points per game.
Individually, Gopher freshman Al Nolen leads the Gophers and is second in the Big Ten Conference in steals with 2.1 spg while sophomore Damian Johnson holds the team-lead in blocks, swatting 1.3 per game (sixth 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 267 points since and currently is 15th place on the career points list with 1,285. 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 three blocked shots against Indiana on March 5, Coleman now has 110 career blocks, good for ninth place on Minnesota’s all-time list. Coleman has also played in 122 career games, sixth most in team history.
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 four point-rebounds double-doubles this season).
SHARP SHOOTER
Freshman Blake Hoffarber not only has the third highest three-point field accuracy in Big Ten Conference at .433 (61-141), 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 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) 61
Voshon Lenard (1991-92) 51
Kevin Burleson (1999-00) 44
Michael Bauer (2000-01) 34
Quincy Lewis (1995-96) 26
FRESHMAN FIRE
Minnesota has relied heavily on its two freshmen, Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber this season.
Nolen is averaging 4.6 points, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals and 22.6 minutes per game this season. He has tied for or led the Gophers in assists in 16 of the 28 games he has played in, including a career-high eight Feb. 9 vs. Iowa. He has recorded 58 steals (2.1 spg), which ranks him second overall in the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the Big Ten in assists at 3.5 per game and sixth in the conference with a 1.83 assist/turnover ratio.
Hoffarber is averaging 8.6 points for the Gophers this season and is shooting .454 (84-185) from the floor, including .433 (61-141) from behind the arc, the third highest 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, eight points in another start vs. Iowa on Feb. 9 and 10 in a win over Ohio State (3/1).
FRESHMAN RANKINGS WITHIN THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Assists Average (Big Ten Ranking)
1. Michael Thompson, NU 4.3 (3)
2. Kalin Lucas, MSU 3.9 (5)
3. Al Nolen, MINN 3.6 (7)
4. Demetri McCamey, ILL 3.2 (10)
5. Jeff Peterson, IOWA 3.1 (12)
Steals Average (Big Ten Ranking)
1. Al Nolen, MINN 2.1 (2)
2. Manny Harris, MICH 1.5 (7)
3. Eric Gordon, IND 1.3 (10)
4. Talor Battle, PSU 1.3 (T11)
5. Robbie Hummel, PUR 1.3 (T11)
3-Point FG % Average (Big Ten Ranking)
1. Robbie Hummel, PUR .463 (2)
2. Blake Hoffarber, MINN .433 (4)
3. E’ Twaun Moore, PUR .420 (6)
4. Michael Thompson, NU .417 (7)
5. Jordan Crawford, IND .392 (13)
3-Point FG Made Average (Big Ten Ranking)
1. Eric Gordon, IND 2.3 (7)
2. Blake Hoffarber, MINN 2.1 (9)
3. E’ Twaun Moore, PUR 1.8 (12)
4. Talor Battle, PSU 1.6 (13)
5. Jon Diebler, OSU 1.5 (15)
Assist/Turnover Ratio Average (Big Ten Ranking)
1. Michael Thompson, NU 2.14 (4)
2. Kalin Lucas, MSU 1.87 (5)
3. Al Nolen, MINN 1.83 (6)
4. Demetri McCamey, ILL 1.37 (11)
5. Talor Battle, PSU 1.35 (12)
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. He grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, seven of which were offensive, against Illinois on Feb. 12 while also scoring nine points, swiping four balls and blocking a shot. Also, Johnson contributed five points, six rebounds and a steal against Wisconsin (2/16).
Johnson is sixth on the team in scoring at 6.7 ppg, second on the team in rebounding at 4.6 rpg, leads the team in blocks with 39 (1.3 bpg) and has the second most steals (50, 1.7 spg), which is fifth most in the conference.
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.
