University of Minnesota Athletics
Utah Valley up Next for Gopher Cagers
11/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota vs. Utah Valley: Minnesota will finish a season-beginning three-game homestand as they welcome the Utah Valley Wolverines to Williams Arena. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools as well as Tubby Smith's first game against Utah Valley. Utah Valley is in the midst of a four-game road trip.
The Gophers opened the season on Nov. 13 with a win over Tennessee Tech, in what was Tubby Smith's 600th career game as a head coach. They followed that up with a 40-point victory over Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 16. Smith's career record entering the night is 431-171 (.717).
About the Golden Gophers:
- Minnesota has a combined record of 24-2 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 19-0 in regular season non-conference games at Williams Arena. Dating back to the 2006-07 season under Jim Molinari, Minnesota has won 21 consecutive non-conference regular season home games.
- Smith is 30-8 (.789) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.4 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (38 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 38 games (21% 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 Wolverines:
- Utah Valley is located in Orem, Utah and is a member of the Great West Conference.
- Utah Valley is coached by Dick Hunsaker (Eighth Season).
- The Wolverines are coming off of a 58-51 loss against Cal State Bakersfield. They opened the season with a victory over North Dakota State.
- The Wolverines are led by junior Justin Baker, who is averaging 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Series History:
- First Meeting
Second Half Bursts: Minnesota's first two contests this season can be described as the "tale of two halfs". The team has looked sluggish early in both games but in each instance has returned from the locker room on fire.
Opponent First Half Second Half
Tennessee Tech 37 pts; 42.9 FG% 50 pts; 67.9 FG%
Stephen F. Austin 26 pts; 45.5 FG% 56 pts; 61.3 FG%
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)
Lawrence Westbrook 22 vs. Tennessee Tech (11/23)
20-point games in 2008-09
Player (Season) Points Opponent (date)
Lawrence Westbrook 29 at Wisconsin (1/15)
Devoe Joseph 23 Penn State (2/14)
Paul Carter 22 Indiana (2/10)
Damian Johnson 21 South Dakota State (12/10)
Jamal Abu-Shamala 20 North Dakota State (11/29)
Blake Hoffarber 20 at Colorado State (11/22)
Colton Iverson 20 Eastern Washington (11/26)
Lawrence Westbrook 20 Bowling Green (11/15)
Stat Sheet Filler 2.0: 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.
He countered that with 11 points, five steals five assists and three blocks against Stephen F. Austin.
By the Numbers with Damian Johnson:
- Has averaged 27 minutes in first two games
- Currently 7th on Gophers all-time steals list with 142
- Currently 8th on Gophers all-time blocks list with 132
- Scored in double-figures 25 times in his career
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 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 player 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 has gone 1-of 2 this far from three-point land while Williams is has connected on 3-of-5.
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. He mirrored that on Nov. 16 against Stephen F. Austin. Nolen now has 273 career dimes, eighth most in Gopher history. 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 34 career games with one turnover or less, and Minnesota is 26-8 in those games.
Tubby Trends: In two-plus seasons under Tubby Smith, Minnesota has followed some pretty significant winning trends:
- 39-2 when leading with 5:00 remaining
- 38-17 when bench outscores opponents bench
- 36-2 when leading at the half
- 31-9 when outrebounding its opponent
- 30-9 with fewer turnovers than opponent
- 28-1 when scoring 70 points or more
- 29-4 when attempting more free throws than its opponent
Westbrook Gaining on 1,000: Senior co-captain Lawrence Westbrook poured in 15 points against Stephen F. Austin Nov. 16 and now needs 199 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.
Block Party:The 2008-09 Gophers shattered the school record for blocks in a season with 201 (The previous record of 196 was set in 2002-03. That record may not stand long. The current squad has swatted 23 shots in two games, led by Damian Johnson with eight and Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson with five apiece.
This is not new to the above trio. Last season, Johnson finished with 60 blocks while Sampson recorded 50 and Iverson chipped in with 41. Johnson's total of 60 puts him eighth all-time on the Gophers single-season blocks list.
For the season, Minnesota led the Big Ten Conference in blocks with an average of 6.1 blocks per game, which was fourth in the nation. The Gophers blocked at least four shots in 27 of its 33 games in 2008-09 en route to setting the single-season blocks record. Damian Johnson led the team and was third in the Big Ten with an average of 2.0 bpg while Sampson finished second on the team and fourth in the conference with an average of 1.5 bpg. Iverson was third on the team and sixth in the conference with an average of 1.3 bpg.
