University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-Stephen F. Austin Notes
11/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota (2-0) 82, Stephen F. Austin (0-1) 42
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minn.
November 16, 2009
Attendance: 12,023
Team Notes
• Tubby Smith is now 44-25 as the head coach at Minnesota and 431-170 for his career.
• Minnesota has out blocked its opponents 23-0 in the first two games (15 against Tennessee Tech, and eight against SFA)
• Minnesota is now 30-8 at Williams Arena with Smith on the bench.
• Minnesota led 26-19 at intermission is now 35-2 when leading at intermission under Smith, including a 17-2 mark in 2008-09.
• Minnesota is now 26-4 in non-conference games in the Tubby Smith era.
• Minnesota scored the first 16 points of the second half in hitting six of its first seven shots.
• The Gophers outscored Stephen F. Austin, 34-4, over a stretch of 15:39, spanning the last nine minutes of the first half and the first 5:39 of the second half.
• Stephen F. Austin was held without a field goal for a span of 8:35 from the nine-minute mark of the first half until a three-pointer by Eddie Williams with 0:25 seconds left before the break.
• Minnesota combined to make 8-of-12 (.667) three-point attempts in the second half, helping the Gophers outscore the Lumberjacks, 56-23, in the final 20 minutes.
• After struggling by making just 10-of-20 free throw attempts in their season-opener, the Gophers were much better in tonight's win, connecting on 13-of-14 (.929) from the line.
• Minnesota's defense has forced 46 turnovers (27 vs. TTU, 19 vs. SFA) in two games, and has allowed just one opposing player in each game to reach double-figures, with 12 points being the high allowed so far.
• The Golden Gophers dished out 21 assists in tonight's win, and have recorded a total of 46 helpers so far this season.
• Minnesota outscored SFA, 26-8, in points off turnovers.
Individual Player Notes
• Lawrence Westbrook tied for the team lead with 15 points, and he is now 199 points away from becoming Minnesota's 35th player to score at least 1,000 points.
• In the Gophers' two wins, Westbrook has made 15-of-23 (.652) field goals, including 7-of-12 (.583) from beyond the three-point arc.
• Rodney Williams started the second half for Paul Carter and scored six of his 14 points during the Gophers' 16-0 run to begin the half. Williams had a couple crowd-pleasing dunks, and made 5-of-6 (.833) field goals, and 2-of-3 (.667) treys in the contest.
• Al Nolen dished out seven assists for the second-straight game. He now has 273 career assists, ninth on Minnesota's career all-time assists list.
• Damian Johnson swiped five balls against SFA after opening the season with a career-high six steals in the win against Tennessee Tech. He now has 142 career thefts, seventh most in Gopher history.
• Johnson was one of four Gophers players in double-figures, finishing with 11 points, while filling the stat sheet by adding his five steals, five assists, and three blocks in 25 minutes on the floor.
• Ralph Sampson III paced all rebounders with a career-high total of 11. Sampson added eight points, tied his career-high with three assists, and three blocks. Through two games, Sampson is averaging 10.0 rebounds per outing.
• Devoe Joseph came off the bench to tie for game-high scoring honors with 15 points. Joseph made 5-of-7 field goals, including all three of his three-point attempts.
