University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Miami in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge: Minnesota heads in to the 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge having never faced Miami but Gophers Head Coach Tubby Smith has a perfect record against the Hurricanes, a 74-65 victory during Kentucky's 1998-99 season and a 60-57 win during the 1999-2000 season.
The Gophers moved to 4-6 in the challenge following last season's 66-56 victory over Virginia at Williams Arena. The Michigan State Spartans have a record of 5-4 and are the only Big Ten team that has a better record than Minnesota in the 10 years of the challenge.
Wisconsin mirrors the Gophers record at 4-6 while Illinois (3-7), Indiana (3-5), Michigan (3-5), Northwestern (3-7), Ohio State (3-5) and Penn State (3-5) all have three victories. Iowa and Purdue both have records of 2-6 in the event. Duke holds the best record at a perfect 10-0.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Minnesota has a combined record of 26-4 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 20-0 in regular season non-conference games at Williams Arena. Dating back to the 2006-07 season under Jim Molinari, Minnesota has won 22 consecutive non-conference regular season home games.
- Smith is 31-8 (.795) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.2 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (39 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 39 games (21% of the time).
- Colton Iverson recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds Nov. 26 against Butler and his second against Texas A&M on Nov. 29 with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The 12 boards is a career-high.
- 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). He is now 190 points away from 1,000 for his career.
- 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 Hurricanes:
- The Canes are coached by Frank Haith (Sixth Season).
- Miami is a perfect 7-0 this season. It is the fifth time in school history that they have started 7-0.
- Miami is in the midst of a 14-game win streak against non-conference foes on its home floor, the BankUnited Center.
- The Canes won the Charleston Classic on Nov. 19-22 with wins over Tulane, UNC Wilmington and South Carolina.
- The Canes are led by senior forward Dwayne Collins, who is averaging a team-high 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds.
Series History:
- First Meeting
- The Gophers are 13-20 all-time against teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
- Tubby Smith is 2-0 against Miami, a 74-65 victory during Kentucky's 1998-99 season and a 60-57 win during the 1999-2000 season.
- Smith is 19-13 all-time versus teams in the Big 12 Conference.
(2-0 vs. Clemson, 1-2 vs. Duke, 0-1 vs. Florida State, 4-2 vs. Georgia Tech, 3-3 vs. Maryland, 2-0 vs. Miami, 4-4 vs. UNC, 1-1 vs. Virginia, 2-0 vs. Virginia Tech)
Off the Bench: Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith uses his entire roster and it shows in the boxscore. The Gophers non-starters have outscored their opponents 158-63 this season, including a 46-8 margin in their victory over Butler in the first round of the 76 Classic on Nov. 26.
The Gophers are 3-2 this season when their bench outscores its opponents and are 39-19 in the Tubby Smith era in that category.
Leading the way off the bench for Minnesota is guard Devoe Joseph. The sophomore from Pickering, Ontario, Canada has come off the bench in four of the six games this season and is averaging 11.8 points in those games. Overall, Joseph is averaging a career-high 10.5 points per game.
Bench Scoring
Opponent Differential Leading Bench Scorer
Tennessee Tech 31-15 Rodney Williams (14)
Stephen F. Austin 46-14 Devoe Joseph (15)
Utah Valley 16-20 Paul Carter (10)
Butler 46-8 Joseph (14)
Portland 19-6 Joseph (11)
Texas A&M 24-14 Carter (13)
