University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Northwestern in Pivotal Game
2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers Face Northwestern in Pivotal Game
The Gophers have dropped four of their last five games in conference play, all on the road, making the Feb. 22 matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats at Williams Arena a pivotal one. Minnesota is 14-2 this season at home with its only losses coming against Michigan State and Purdue.
The matchup is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on the Big Ten Network with Craig Coshun and former Michigan great Tim McCormick 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 19 of the 25 games he has played this season, including a career-high 29 points in the overtime victory at Wisconsin on Jan. 15. Minnesota is 15-4 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 125 assists and is currently 27 dimes short of 10th on Minnesota’s career all-time assists list. He comes into the Northwestern game with 241 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 4.8 apg and leads the conference with a 2.55 assist/turnover ratio.
- Junior Damian Johnson leads the team in blocks (51, 2.2 bpg), is second on the team in rebounding average (4.2 rpg) and is second in steals (42, 1.8 spg) and minutes played (26.7 mpg).
- Freshman Devoe Joseph scored a career-high 23 points against Penn State on Feb. 14. 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. Joseph also led the Gophers in scoring at Michigan (2/19) with 14 points.
About the Wildcats:
- Northwestern is coached by Bill Carmody (13th Season, 9th at Northwestern).
- The Wildcats are 14-10 this season overall and are coming off of a 72-69 victory over Ohio State on Feb. 18 in Evanston.
- Northwestern is led by forward Kevin Coble (16.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and guards Craig Moore (14.9 ppg) and Michael Thompson (9.7 ppg).
Series History:
- Minnesota leads the all-time series 86-57.
- Northwestern defeated the Gophers 74-65 in the season’s first matchup on Jan. 18.
- The Gophers won both regular-season matchups a season ago as well as the matchup in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
-Tubby Smith is 3-1 all-time against Northwestern.
- Tubby Smith is 32-26 all-time against teams that belong to the Big Ten Conference.
- The Gophers have a 674-724 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.
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.
Whitey Skoog to Receive Honor
The jersey of former Minnesota men’s basketball standout Whitey Skoog will join five other former Gophers in the rafters of Williams Arena during a ceremony of retirement at halftime of the Minnesota-Northwestern game on Feb. 22.
Skoog played guard for head coach O.B. “Ozzie” Cowles during the 1948-51 seasons. Known best as one of the foremost pioneers of the jump shot, Skoog was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten selection for the Gophers. Following his Golden Gopher career, he was the 10th pick of the 1951 NBA Draft and played six seasons for his hometown Minneapolis Lakers, where he was a part of three world championship teams.
