University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-Utah Valley Game Notes
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota (2-0) 76, Utah Valley (1-2) 51
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minn.
November 19, 2009
Attendance: 11,912
Team Notes
• Tubby Smith is now 45-25 as the head coach at Minnesota and 432-170 for his career.
• Minnesota is now 30-8 at Williams Arena with Smith on the bench.
• Minnesota led 32-24 at intermission is now 36-2 when leading at the half under Smith, including a 17-2 mark in 2008-09, and 3-0 so far this season.
• Minnesota is now 27-4 in non-conference games in the Tubby Smith era.
• Minnesota's defense has forced 72 turnovers (27 vs. TTU, 19 vs. SFA, 26 vs. UVU) in three 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 during tonight's win, and have recorded a total of 67 helpers so far this season.
• Minnesota outscored UVU, 30-2, in points off turnovers, while also outscoring the Wolverines, 40-18, in the paint.
• The Gophers broke the game open by holding Utah Valley scoreless over the final 5:36 of the game, and stretched an 11-point lead (59-48) to the final margin of 25 points by finishing the game with a 17-3 run over the final 6:54.
• Minnesota had 20 or more assists and 12 or more steals for the third-straight game.
• The Gophers made just 12-of-35 (.343) field goal attempts in the first half, but responded by connecting on 15-of-28 (.536) shots after the break.
• Minnesota's five turnovers are the fewest for the Gophers since having four against Indiana on January 24, 2004.
• The Gophers have limited their first three opponents to an average of just 47.3 points per game, with Utah Valley's 51 points being the most allowed by the Gophers so far this season.
Individual Player Notes
• Rodney Williams made his first career start for the Gophers and scored a game-high and career-high 17 points to lead the Gophers. He's scored in double-figures in all three of his career games, averaging 15.0 points so far.
• Williams also tied for team-high honors in rebounds, finishing with six to tie Damian Johnson.
• Williams scored eight-straight points for the Gophers over a two-minute stretch (10:13-8:13) of the second half, helping Minnesota increase its lead from 49-41 to 57-43.
• Damian Johnson finished with 15 points, marking the 26th career game he's scored in double-figures.
• In addition to his 15 points and six boards, Johnson added three assists, three blocked shots, and a pair of steals.
• With his two steals, Johnson now has 144 career thefts, seventh-most in U of M history.
• Williams (7-for-12), Johnson (7-for-10), and Ralph Sampson III (3-for-4) combined to shoot 65.4 percent (17-for-26), while the rest of the Gophers were a combined 10-for-37 (.270).
• Al Nolen dished out seven assists against the Wolverines, his third-straight game with seven assists. He now has 273 for his career, which ranks ninth on Minnesota's career all-time assists list.
• Nolen now has 35 career games with one turnover or less and the Gophers are 27-8 in those games.
• Nolen finished with a team-high six steals in the game. He now has 137 career steals, ninth-most in Gophers history.
