University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head to Ann Arbor to Face Wolverines
2/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers Head to Ann Arbor to Face Wolverines
Minnesota started the season with a 4-0 record away from the friendly confines of Williams Arena but have since dropped four of its last five road games. The Gophers will look to change that as they head to Ann Arbor, Mich. to face the Wolverines. Michigan leads the all-time series 73-58 but the Gophers are currently on a two-game win streak after sweeping the season series in 2007-08.
The matchup is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on the Big Ten Network with Gus Johnson and former Ohio State great Jim Jackson on the call.
About the Golden Gophers:
- The Gophers are led by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a career-high 12.3 ppg. Westbrook has scored in double-figures in 18 of the 24 games he has played this season, including a career-high 29 points in the overtime victory at Wisconsin on Jan. 15. Minnesota is 15-3 this season when Westbrook reaches double-figures and 8-1 when he leads the team in scoring.
- Gopher sophomore Al Nolen leads the team with 123 assists and is currently 29 dimes short of 10th on Minnesota’s career all-time assists list. He comes into the Michigan game with 239 career assists (4.1 apg).
- Nolen has 28 career games with one turnover or less, and Minnesota is 23-5 in those games. Nolen is fourth in the Big Ten Conference with 4.9 apg and is second in the conference, and tied for 16th in the nation with a 2.68 assist/turnover ratio.
- Junior Damian Johnson leads the team in blocks (46, 2.2 bpg), is second on the team in rebounding average (4.2 rpg) and is second in steals (41, 1.9 spg) and minutes played (26.7 mpg).
- Freshman Devoe Joseph is coming off a career-high 23 point game against Penn State. He went 7-of-8 (.875) from behind the arc, tying the school record for trey’s in a game and breaking the school record for three-point percentage in a game.
About the Wolverines:
- Michigan is coached by John Beilein (31st Season, 2nd at Michigan).
- The Wolverines are 16-10 (6-7) this season and are coming off a 70-67 overtime victory over Northwestern in Evanston.
- Michigan is led by sophomore guard Manny Harris, who is second in the Big Ten Conference in scoring at 17.5 points per game. He is also sixth in the conference in rebounding averaging at 5.4 and sixth in assists at 5.2.
- Michigan junior forward DeShawn Sims is tied for fourth in the conference in rebounding at 7.3 rpg and is also averaging 14.7 points per game, seventh in the conference.
Series History:
- Michigan leads the all-time series 73-58.
- Minnesota won both matchups a season ago against the Wolverines.
-Tubby Smith is 2-0 all-time against Michigan.
-Tubby Smith is 32-25 all-time against teams that belong to the Big Ten Conference.
-The Gophers have a 674-723 all-time record against teams that belong or have belonged to the Big Ten Conference.
Abu-Shamala Wins Academic Award
Senior co-captain Jamal Abu-Shamala was named the Outstanding Student-Athlete at the 20th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards ceremony on Feb. 16. The award is presented to one male and one female student-athlete who are accomplished in the four major areas emphasized by the NCAA Life Skills Program: Academics, Athletics, Leadership, and Volunteerism.
Freshman Scorers
Freshman guard Devoe Joseph helped bring the Gophers back from a nine-point second-half deficit at Penn State (2/14) by going 7-of-8 from three-point land en route to a career-high 23 points.
Joseph joins fellow freshman center Colton Iverson, who scored 20 points against Eastern Washington (11/26), and Blake Hoffarber as the only true freshmen to score 20 or more points in a game since Kris Humphries did so during the 2003-04 season. Humphries finished his freshman season with 20 games of 20 or more points to tie Mychal Thompson (1976-77) for the all-time Gopher record.
Hoffarber made the list last season when he scored a career-high 21 points against Colorado State (12/8/07).
20-Point Games by a Gopher Freshman
Player (Season) Points Opponent (date)
Devoe Joseph (2008-09) 23 Penn State (2/14)
Colton Iverson (2008-09) 20 E. Washington (11/26)
Blake Hoffarber (2007-08) 21 Colorado St. (12/8)
Trent Tucker Receives Honor
The jersey of former Minnesota men’s basketball standout Trent Tucker joined four other former Gophers in the rafters of Williams Arena during a ceremony of retirement at halftime of the Minnesota-Indiana game on Feb. 10.
The Flint, Mich. native played four seasons at the U’ for head coach Jim Dutcher (1978-82). During his time in Gold Country, Tucker totaled 1,445 career points at Minnesota (8th all-time), posted 164 career steals (3rd all-time), 631 field goals made (6th all-time) and a .772 (183-237) free-throw percentage (7th all-time).
The University of Minnesota Athletics Department jersey retirement policy changed in 2004 so that only the jersey now is retired and not the number of the former student-athlete. This change was made to preserve a broad range of numbers that could be worn by current student-athletes on a team. It is now common practice at many institutions to retire the jersey and not the number. For those players whose respective number and jersey were retired prior to the policy change above, the Athletics Department will continue to honor them in both ways.
