University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers and Bears to Tangle at Williams
12/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota vs. Morgan State: Minnesota welcomes Morgan State to Williams Arena for a non-conference tilt on Tuesday, Dec. 8. The game, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Central, will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Morgan State (5-3) comes to Minneapolis having defeated Coppin State 80-67 on Dec. 5. The Gophers used a season-high 51 points in the first half to defeat Brown, 91-55. The 91 total points is also a season-high for Minnesota.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 434-173 (18th Season) while his Minnesota record is 47-28 (Third Season)
- Minnesota is led by senior co-captain Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a team-high 12.4 ppg.
- Fellow senior co-captain Damian Johnson leads the team in minutes played (27.1) and blocks (2.3 bpg).
- Sophomore Ralph Sampson III is the team's leading rebounder at 6.0 rpg.
- 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.
- Minnesota has a combined record of 29-7 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 21-0 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 32-8 (.800) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.1 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (40 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 40 games at the Barn (20% 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). He is now 190 points away from 1,000 for his career.
- 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 Bears:
- The Bears are coached by Todd Bozeman (Fourth Season).
- Morgan State is the defending MEAC champion. The Bears reached the NCAA Tournament last year with a 23-12 record and a 13-3 conference mark.
- The Bears are playing their eighth road game of the season in nine dates and their sixth in a row.
- Morgan State is 5-3 with a nice road win at Arkansas. MSU lost a nine-point game at Louisville and beat Coppin State, 80-67, on Saturday.
- The Bears are coached by former California coach Todd Bozeman. In his fourth season, Bozeman has a 73-44 record at MSU. He led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament and a MEAC title last year. He was named the MEAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season in 2009.
- Senior guard Reggie Holmes is averaging an impressive 24.6 points per game through eight games, including three 30-point outbursts. His 34 points led the Bears over Arkansas.
- Senior forward Kevin Thompson is averaging more than 11 rebounds a game and has three double-doubles.
Series History:
- This is the first meeting between Minnesota and Morgan State.
- The Gophers are 8-0 all-time against teams from the MEAC. The last time the Gophers played a team from the MEAC was Coppin State in 2005..
- Tubby Smith has never faced Morgan State as a head coach.
- Smith is 2-0 all-time versus teams in the MEAC.
(1-0 vs. Florida A&M and 1-0 vs. South Carolina State)
Doubling Up: Coming in to the 2009-10 season there had been nine double-double stat games for Gopher players in the Tubby Smith era. Junior guard Blake Hoffarber contributed the team's third double-double this season, as he finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in Minnesota's victory over Brown on Dec. 5. Colton Iverson has the other two double-doubles this season for the Gophers.
| Player (season) | Stats |
| Blake Hoffarber (2009-10) | 13 points, 10 rebounds vs. Brown |
| Colton Iverson (2009-10) | 14 points, 12 rebounds vs. Texas A&M |
| Colton Iverson (2009-10) | 13 points, 11 rebounds vs. Butler |
| Damian Johnson (2008-09) | 12 points, 10 rebounds at Ohio State |
| Paul Carter (2008-09) | 10 points, 11 rebounds at Wisconsin |
| Damian Johnson (2007-08) | 14 points, 12 rebounds vs. Maryland |
| Dan Coleman (2007-08) | 10 points, 13 rebounds at Purdue |
| Lawrence Westbrook (2007-08) | 12 points, 10 assists at Northwestern |
| Dan Coleman (2007-08) | 17 points, 11 rebounds at Michigan |
| Dan Coleman (2007-08) | 10 points, 11 rebounds at Penn State |
| Dan Coleman (2007-08) | 19 points, 14rebounds vs. Northwestern |
| Dan Coleman (2007-08) | 22 points, 11 rebounds vs. Colorado State |
Winning Big, Losing Small: Minnesota's five victories have come by an average of 29.4 points this season. Minnesota started the season with victories over Tennessee Tech (87-50), Stephen F. Austin (82-42) and Utah Valley (76-51) for an average margin of victory of 34 points. It marked the largest average margin of victory in the team's first three games since the 1976-77 team won its first three games by a margin of 34.33.
On the other end of the spectrum, Minnesota has three losses this season that have come by a slim average margin of 3.67 points.
