University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head to Madison for Border Battle
1/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers to take on Wisconsin in Border Battle
The Gophers will be on the road for the entire week as they head to Wisconsin to face the Badgers on Jan. 15. The game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. and can be seen on the Big Ten Network. Minnesota will stay on the road and head to Evanston, Illinois for a Sunday afternoon tilt with the Northwestern Wildcats on Jan. 18.
About the Golden Gophers:
- The Gophers are led by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a career-high 12.8 ppg. He has scored in double-figures in 13 of the 15 games he has played this season, including 13 point in the victory over Penn State on Sunday. Minnesota is 12-1 this season when Westbrook reaches double-figures.
- Gopher junior Devron Bostick led the Gophers in the victory over Penn State with a career-high 19 points. He played 16 minutes and finished the game with a .875 (7-8) shooting percentage. For the season, Bostick, the 2008 Junior College Player of the Year, is shooting .549 (28-51) overall and .522 (12-23) from three-point land.
- Fellow junior college transfer Paul Carter is also coming off a career game against Penn State, as he scored a season/career-high 14 points and added four rebounds in 20 minutes played. Carter went 5-of-6 from the field, including his first two three-pointers as a Gopher.
- Minnesota tied a NCAA record and set a Big Ten record by shooting 9-for-9 from three-point land in the 79-59 victory over Penn State. The perfect three-point field goal percentage in a game is a Gopher record, bettering the .800 (8-10) the Gophers shot in a game against Purdue during the 2006-07 season.
About the Badgers:
- Wisconsin is coached by Bo Ryan (25th Season, 8th at Wisconsin).
- The Badgers are 12-4 this season overall and 3-1 in the conference play. Most recently, Wisconsin fell to Purdue 65-52 in West Lafayette.
- Wisconsin is led by senior forward Marcus Landry (13.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game) and junior guard Trevon Hughes (12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game).
- Wisconsin is coming off a year in which they won the Big Ten regular season conference championship as well as the Big Ten Tournament title. The Badgers have been invited to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons.
Series History:
- Minnesota leads the all-time series 91-84.
- Wisconsin won both matchups a season ago and have won six straight.
-Tubby Smith is 1-2 all-time against Wisconsin. His lone victory came in the 2003 Elite Eight.
-Tubby Smith is 28-20 all-time against teams that belong to the Big Ten Conference.
- The Gophers have a 670-718 all-time record against teams that belong or have belonged to the Big Ten Conference.
Gophers in the Polls
- The 15-1 Gophers are nationally-ranked for the fourth straight week, as they sit 18th and 17th, 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 four ranked teams from the Big Ten Conference, joining Purdue (AP 19, ESPN 19) and Michigan State (7/10) and Michigan (25/24).
Tubby is Second Best Through 50 Games
Tubby Smith recently coached in his 50th game as Head Coach of the Gophers and has compiled a record of 35-15 (.700) in those games. His win percentage of 70 is the second highest all-time at Minnesota for a coach is his first 50 games behind O.B. Cowles (1948-59) who compiled a record of 37-13 (.740).
Gopher Coaches Records in their first 50 Games:
- O.B. Cowles: 37-13 (.740)
- Jim Dutcher: 37-15 (.740)*
- Tubby Smith: 35-15 (.700)
- L.J. Cooke: 33-17 (.660)
- Dan Monson: 27-23 (.540)
- JohnKundla: 24-26 (.480)
- Clem Haskins: 18-32 (.360)
- Dave McMillan: 16-34 (.320)
* Jim Dutcher started his career with a record of 37-15 but the NCAA later declared all games from the 1976-77 season, a season that saw Minnesota go 24-3, forfeits due to the use of an ineligible player.
