University of Minnesota Athletics
Huskies are Gophers' Last Test Before Finals
12/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota vs. Northern Illinois: Finals start Thursday at the University of Minnesota, but the Northern Illinois Huskies are what the Gophers are preparing for. The Huskies will be making their first appearance in the Twin Cities and Williams Arena since the 1990-91 season. The game, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central, will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
The Huskies (1-5) haven't played since dropping a game against Bradley, 63-49, on Dec. 2. Minnesota is in the midst of a six-game homestand as well as a three-game win streak. The Gophers extended the streak to three games with a 97-74 win over St. Joseph's on Dec. 12.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 436-173 (18th Season) while his Minnesota record is 49-28 (Third Season)
- Minnesota is led by senior co-captain Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a team-high 12.8 ppg. He enters the contest 121 points away from 1,000 for his career.
- Fellow senior co-captain Damian Johnson is second on the team in minutes played (25.4), leads the team in blocks (2.0 bpg) and is second on the team in steals (2.4 spg).
- Junior guard Al Nolen leads the team in minutes played (26.3 mpg) and also in steals (2.9 spg). Nolen and Johnson are one and two, respectively, in the Big Ten in steals.
- Sophomore Ralph Sampson III is the team's leading rebounder at 6.5 rpg and is coming off of a double-double performance with 16 points and 10 rebounds against St. Joseph's. It was his first career double-double.
- Colton Iverson recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds Nov. 26 against Butler and followed that up with a 14 point, 12 rebound performance against Texas A&M on Nov. 29. The 12 boards are a career-high for the Yankton, S.D. native.
- Junior Blake Hoffarber collected his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds Dec. 5 against Brown. He followed that up with a then season-high 18 points against Morgan State on Dec. 8 and one off a career-high with 20 against St. Joseph's on Dec. 12.
- Minnesota has a combined record of 31-7 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 23-0 in regular season non-conference games at Williams Arena. Dating back to the 2006-07 season under Jim Molinari, Minnesota has won 23 consecutive non-conference regular season home games.
- Smith is 34-8 (.800) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.6 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (42 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 nine times in 42 games at the Barn (21% of the time).
About the Huskies:
- The Huskies are coached by Ricardo Patton (3rd Season).
-Northern Illinois is a member of the Mid-American Conference.
- The Huskies are coming off a 63-49 loss on Dec. 2 to Bradley. They also dropped a game on Nov. 28 to Northern Iowa.
- Junior guard Darion Anderson is averaging a team-high 12.8 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding at 8.7 rpg, which is second in the MAC.
Series History:
- Fifth meeting: The Gophers have won all four previous matchups. The two teams haven't played since the 1990-91 season.
- The Gophers are 16-2 all-time against teams currently in the MAC.
- Tubby Smith has never faced Northern Illinois as a head coach.
- Smith is 9-0 all-time versus teams in the MAC.
(1-0 vs. Ball State, 1-0 vs. Bowling Green, 1-0 vs. Central Michigan, 1-0 vs. Kent State, 2-0 vs. Miami of Ohio, 3-0 vs. Ohio)
