University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Back at Home to Face Penn State
1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers Back at Williams Arena to Face Penn State
The Gophers are back home to face the Penn State Nittany Lions at Williams Arena. Minnesota is 11-1 this season at the Barn with the only defeat coming in the Big Ten opener against Michigan State.Both the Gophers and Nittany Lions sit at 2-1 in conference play.
About the Golden Gophers:
- The Gophers are led by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a career-high 12.8 ppg. Most recently, Westbrook scored a team-high10 points in Minnesota’s comeback win over Iowa on Jan. 8. Westbrook went 5-of-6 from the line, including four straight at the end of the game to help seal the victory.
- Gopher junior forward Damian Johnson continued to show his versatility as he again filled out the score sheet with12 points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks against Ohio State. Johnson is leading the Big Ten Conference with 2.4 spg, is second with 2.5 bpg, is second with a .566 FG% (47-83) and fourth with a 2.5 assist/turnover ratio.
- Gopher junior Travis Busch ignited the Gophers in their come from behind victory over Iowa on Jan. 8. Busch came off the bench and tied Westbrook with a team-high 10 points, most of which came at crucial moments, and also grabbed four rebounds.
About the Nittany Lions:
- Penn State is coached by Ed DeChellis (13th Season, 6th at PSU).
- The Nittany Lions are 13-3 this season and are coming off a victory over #14 Purdue.
- Penn State is led by sophomore guard Talor Battle, who is leading the Big Ten Conference in scoring at 18.9 points per game. He is also averaging 6.1 rebounds per game, 11th in the conference, and 5.3 assists per game, fourth in the conference.
- Penn State’s senior guard Stanley Pringle is sixth in the conference in scoring at 15.1 ppg while senior forward Jamelle Cornley is eighth at 14.2 ppg. Cornley is also seventh in the conference in rebounding with 7.0 rpg.
Series History:
- Minnesota leads the all-time series 15-3.
- Minnesota won both matchups a season ago with Penn State and has won the last seven matchups overall. The last PSU victory came on Jan. 17, 2004 in Happy Valley.
- Tubby Smith is 2-1 all-time against Penn State.
- Tubby Smith is 27-20 all-time against teams that belong to the Big Ten Conference
- The Gophers have a 669-718 all-time record against teams that belong or have belonged to the Big Ten Conference.
Gophers in the Polls
- The 14-1 Gophers are nationally-ranked for the third straight week, as they sit 22nd and 19th, respectively, in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. They entered the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls as the No. 23 ranked team in the country on Dec.22, the first time they have been ranked since the 2002-03 season.
- The Gophers were last ranked in the AP poll on December 17, 2002 (No. 25) and December 9, 2002 in the ESPN/USA Today poll (No. 25). Minnesota was ranked for six consecutive weeks to start the 2002-03 season.
- The victory over Louisville was the first win over a top 10-ranked opponent since Feb. 9, 200 when Minnesota beat No. 9 Indiana 77-75.
- The win over Louisville was the first over a ranked opponent away from Williams Arena since March 23, 1990 when Minnesota defeated No. 6 Syracuse in the NCAA Southeast Regional in New Orleans (not including vacated games).
- Minnesota is one of three ranked teams from the Big Ten Conference, joining Purdue (AP 14, ESPN 14) and Michigan State (8/12).
Tubby Trends
In just a season and a half under Tubby Smith, Minnesota has followed some pretty significant winning trends:
- 31-1 when leading with 5:00 remaining
- 30-9 when bench outscores opponents bench
- 27-0 when leading at the half
- 25-4 when outrebounding its opponent
- 24-6 with fewer turnovers than opponent
- 23-1 when scoring 70 points or more
- 21-2 when attempting more free throws than its opponent
At Home in New Home
- Under Tubby Smith, Minnesota is 17-0 in regular season non-conference games at Williams Arena. Dating back to the 2006-07 season under Jim Molinari, Minnesota has won 19 consecutive non-conference regular season home games.
- Smith is 23-6 (.793) overall at Williams Arena during his two seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 61.7 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (29 games). The Gophers are allowing just 61.1 ppg at the Barn in 2008-09 through 12 games. Under Smith, opponents have only reached 70 points seven times in 29 games (24% of the time).
Unmatched Depth
Minnesota's depth is unmatched in the Big Ten Conference this season.The Gophers are the only team with 11 players averaging at least 3.5 points per game (Michigan is the only team with 10 players). Minnesota also has 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game of action. Michigan has 10 players while four others have nine. Minnesota and Illinois are the only teams to have nine players averaging 2.0 rebounds per game.
