University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Ready for Stephen F. Austin
11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota vs. Stephen F. Austin: The Gophers will play for the second time in four days as they welcome the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks to Williams Arena. The contest will mark the beginning of SFA's 2009-10 season. Minnesota opened on Nov. 13 against Tennessee Tech which was Tubby Smith's 600th career game as a head coach. Smith's career record entering the night is 430-170 (.717).
About the Golden Gophers:
- The Gophers defeated Tennessee Tech 87-50 in the season opener on Nov. 13. Lawrence Westbrook paced Minnesota with 22 points while Paul Carter, Damian Johnson and Ralph Sampson III added nine points apiece. Sampson also contributed a game-high nine rebounds and Johnson finished with a career-high six steals and tied a career high with five blocks.
- Minnesota has a combined record of 23-2 under Tubby Smith in regular-season non-conference games, including a perfect 12-0 record to start the 2008-09 season.
- Under Tubby Smith, Minnesota is 18-0 in regular season non-conference games at Williams Arena. Dating back to the 2006-07 season under Jim Molinari, Minnesota has won 20 consecutive non-conference regular season home games.
- Smith is 29-8 (.784) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.9 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (37 games). The Gophers allowed just 58.4 ppg at the Barn in 2008-09 in 18 games and 62.2 in 2007-08. Under Smith, opponents have only reached 70 points eight times in 37 games (22% of the time).
- The Gophers were led a season ago by guard Lawrence Westbrook. He averaged a career-high 12.6 ppg. He also established career-highs in average minutes played (24.1), field-goal percentage (.430) and free-throw percentage (.833).
- Guard Devoe Joseph led Minnesota during the exhibition season with a 19.5 ppg average.
- Gopher freshmen Justin Cobbs and Rodney Williams made their collegiate debuts on Nov. 13 against Tennessee Tech. Williams scored 14 points in 21 minutes played while Cobbs was scoreless in seven minutes.
About the Lumberjacks:
- Stephen F. Austin is located in Nacogdoches, Texas
- Stephen F. Austin is coached by Danny Kasper (Ninth Season).
- The Lumberjacks are coming off of a 24-8 season. They won both the Southland regular season title as well as the Southland Tournament championship. It was their second-straight SLC Championship.
- SFA returns six letterwinners from last season, including two starters. Junior guard Eddie Williams is their leading returning scorer, as he averaged 7.4 points and 2.6 assists per game.
Series History:
- First Meeting
- The Gophers and Lumberjacks met during the 1996-97 season but the game has since been vacated, a 101-55 Minnesota victory.
Unmatched Depth: Minnesota had seven players reach the 20-point plateau in a game last season, including a career-high 29 from Lawrence Westbrook against Wisconsin (1/15).The Gophers led the Big Ten in this category.
Westbrook started the 2009-10 season where he left off by putting 22 on Tennessee Tech on Nov. 13.
20-point games in 2009-10:
Player (Season) Points Opponent (date)
1. Lawrence Westbrook 22 vs. Tennessee Tech (11/23)
20-point games in 2008-09:
Player (Season) Points Opponent (date)
1. Lawrence Westbrook 29 at Wisconsin (1/15)
2. Devoe Joseph 23 Penn State (2/14)
3. Paul Carter 22 Indiana (2/10)
4. Damian Johnson 21 South Dakota State (12/10)
5. Jamal Abu-Shamala 20 North Dakota State (11/29)
6. Blake Hoffarber 20 at Colorado State (11/22)
7. Colton Iverson 20 Eastern Washington (11/26)
8. Lawrence Westbrook 20 Bowling Green (11/15)
Stat Sheet Filler: Minnesota forward Damian Johnson continues to show that he is an all-around player. He began his senior season with nine points, a career-high six steals and tied a career-high with five blocks against Tennessee Tech.
Last season (2008-09), Johnson averaged career-highs in points (9.8 ppg), blocks (2.0 bpg), assists (1.6 apg), steals (1.9 spg) and minutes (26.7 mpg) to go along with 4.2 rebounds per game. Also, he swatted at least one shot in 26 of the 30 games he has played this season, finishing with 60 blocks, the eighth highest total in Gopher History.
In 2007-08, Johnson played in all 34 games (6 starts) and finished sixth on the team in scoring at 7.1 ppg, second on the team in rebounding at 4.7 rpg, led the team in blocks with 46 (1.4 bpg) and had the second most steals (59, 1.7 spg), which was fifth-most in the conference.
Johnson has 129 career blocks as a Gopher eighth-most in school history.
Johnson was the only player in the Big Ten Conference to rank in the top-10 in blocks and steals and is only one of two forwards in the conference to appear in the top-10 in steals during the 2008-09 season (Kevin Coble-Northwestern).
By the Numbers with Damian Johnson
(2008-09 season):
- Logged 20 or more minutes in 25 of 30 games
- Recorded 2 or more blocks 19 times and at least 1 in 26 games
- Recorded 4 or more rebounds 18 times
- Recorded 2 or more steals 19 times
- Scored in double-figures 16 times
- Dished out 2 or more assists in 12 of 30 games
Freshman shooters at the U: Freshmen Justin Cobbs and Rodney Williams will try and be the next Gopher to join the ranks of Freshman Sharpshooters in Minneapolis. Blake Hoffarber connected on 70 trey's in his freshman campaign, easily the best ever by a frosh in program history. Last season Devoe Joseph joined the list with 31 makes from beyond the arc.
Cobbs did not attempt a three-pointer in the opener while Williams finished the contest 1-of-2 from 3-point land.
THREE-POINTERS BY A GOPHER FRESHMAN
Player (Season) 3FGM
Blake Hoffarber (2007-08) 70
Voshon Lenard (1991-92) 51
Kevin Burleson (1999-00) 44
Michael Bauer (2000-01) 34
Devoe Joseph (2008-09) 31
Jamal Abu-Shamala (2005-06) 28
Quincy Lewis (1995-96) 26
Dropping Dimes: Starting point guard Al Nolen opened his junior campaign by dishing out a game-high seven assists against Tennessee Tech. Nolen now has 266 career dimes, two away from becoming a member of the school's all-time top 10 list. Arriel McDonald (1991-94) sits atop that list with 547 career assists.
Nolen had a standout sophomore season, with 143 assists and just 57 turnovers in Minnesota's 33 games. Nolen dished out a career-best nine assists in the 68-61 win against Bowling Green on Nov. 15, added eight assists in a victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 23, dished out seven assists and had zero turnovers against High Point on Dec. 28 and added another seven assists against Michigan State (12/31). He also finished his first career NCAA Tournament game with five assists and just one turnover. Nolen has 33 career games with one turnover or less, and Minnesota is 25-8 in those games.
Tubby Trends: In two-plus seasons under Tubby Smith, Minnesota has followed some pretty significant winning trends:
- 38-2 when leading with 5:00 remaining
- 37-17 when bench outscores opponents bench
- 35-2 when leading at the half
- 30-9 when outrebounding its opponent
- 29-9 with fewer turnovers than opponent
- 27-1 when scoring 70 points or more
- 28-4 when attempting more free throws than its opponent
Each New Season: Thanks to a 87-50 victory on Nov. 13, the University of Minnesota men's basketball program now has an all-time record of 87-22 in season opening contests, dating back to a victory over Company A in 1896 by a score of 5-4. The Gophers current win streak in season openers stands at 112(1992-93, 1999-2009). Last season, Al Nolen scored 17 points and dished out six assists and Lawrence Westbrook added 13 points as the Gophers defeated Concordia-St. Paul in the first round of the NABC Classic at Williams Arena. The Gophers hosted the tournament in conjunction with the NABC and then NABC President Tubby Smith.
Westbrook Gaining on 1,000: Senior co-captain Lawrence Westbrook opened with 22 points and now needs 214 points to become the school's 35th member of the 1,000-Point Club. Westbrook scored 73 points as a freshman, 288 as a sophomore and 403 points last season as a junior. He averaged a team and career-high 12.6 points per game last season.
Dan Coleman was the last Gopher player to join the club, as he did so as a senior during the 2007-08 season. He began the season with 923 points and finished with 1,317 points, 15th most in Gopher history. Mychal Thompson is atop the list with 1,992 points.
