University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Open Tourney Against Texas
3/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers Return to Big Dance for First Time Since 2005
Minnesota is making its 10th overall NCAA Tournament appearance (including vacated games) and its first since 2005. Minnesota’s appearances in 1994, 95, 97 and 99 were later vacated due to NCAA violations.
Officially, the Gophers are 7-5 in NCAA Tournament games.
Minnesota was awarded a No. 10 seed for the first time. The Gophers were a No. 8 seed in 2005, their last appearance.
Minnesota’s last appearance as a double-digit seed was 1989 when Minnesota upset No. 6 Kansas State and defeated No. 14 Siena to reach the Sweet 16.
The Gophers are 2-0 in NCAA Tournament play in Greensboro, N.C. In 1989, the Gophers defeated Kansas State and Siena to reach the Sweet 16 at Greensboro Coliseum.
Three of the Gophers’ six NCAA trips that were not vacated have involved trips to North Carolina. In its last NCAA appearance, Minnesota traveled to Charlotte in 2005 as a No. 8 seed where it lost to Iowa State in the first round.
Foe with a New Face  Gophers vs. Texas
Minnesota is facing Texas for the first time. Head Coach Tubby Smith has also never faced Texas in his 18 seasons as a head coach.
The Gophers are 85-41 all-time against schools currently in the Big 12.
Tubby Smith is 2-0 all-time against Texas head coach Rick Barnes. Both of their meetings came while Barnes was the coach at Clemson. Smith’s Georgia squad beat Clemson 81-74 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1996 and Smith’s Kentucky team beat Clemson 76-61 in 1997.
Minnesota vs. Potential Second Round Foes
The Gophers are 1-1 all time against Duke. The last time the teams met was in 1989 when Minnesota faced the Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament with Duke winning 70-87. The Gophers’ only win against Duke came in 1954 when they defeated the Blue Devils 79-73. Minnesota has never faced the No. 15 seed Binghamton.
Minnesota vs. East Regional Teams
Minnesota has played 10 of the 15 teams in East Region of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The Gophers have played Wisconsin (177 times) more than any other team in the bracket. Overall, Minnesota is 105-101 against teams in the region (not including vacated games).
About the Golden Gophers:
The Gophers are led by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook, who is averaging a career-high 12.4 ppg. Westbrook has scored in double-figures in 24 of the 31 games he has played this season. Minnesota is 18-6 this season when Westbrook reaches double-figures and 11-2 when he leads the team in scoring. Westbrook was named All-Big Ten honorable mention last week.
Junior Damian Johnson is averaging 13.6 points, 2.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game over the last five games. Johnson is also shooting .520 over the five games. Johnson had 19 points, four rebounds and two steals in the Big Ten quarterfinal against Michigan State. Johnson was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team last week.
For the season, Johnson leads the team in blocks (59, 2.0 bpg) and minutes played (26.8), is second in scoring (9.7) and steals (57, 2.0 spg) and is third on the team in rebounding average (4.2).
Gopher sophomore Al Nolen leads the team with 138 assists and is currently 14 dimes short of 10th on Minnesota’s career all-time assists list. He comes into the regular-season finale game with 253 career assists (4.0 apg).
Minnesota has 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game. Those 11 players are also averaging at least 3.7 points per game.
Minnesota broke its school record for blocks in a season with six gainst Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers have 199 on the year.
Notes from the Big Ten Tournament
Damian Johnson was Minnesota's leading scorer in the tournament, averaging 13.5 points. Lawrence Westbrook averaged 12.0 points and Bostick 11.5. Johnson was Minnesota's leading rebounder at 5.5 rpg in the tournament.
Devron Bostick scored in double figures in both games, marking back-to-back double figure games for just the second time this season. He averaged 11.5 points in the tournament.
Minnesota shot 40.6 percent from the floor during the Tournament.
Ralph Sampson III led Minnesota in minutes played at 27.5 mpg. He also had a team-high six blocks.
Minnesota is 9-12 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, 6-5 in opening round games and 3-4 in the quarterfinals.
Tubby Smith is 31-12 in conference tournament action and 3-2 at Minnesota.
Minnesota owns a record of 3-2 as a #8 seed (1998, 2009).
Minnesota is 1-2 against the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Jamal Abu-Shamala played in his 127th career game as a Gopher, tying him for second all-time with Dan Coleman and Quincy Lewis.
Westbrook scored in double figures for the fourth straight game and the sixth time in the last seven games. He has reached double figures 24 times in 31 games this year.
Johnson scored in double figures for the 15th time this season and the 23rd time in his career.
Tougher than You Think
Minnesota’s non-conference schedule proved to be more challenging than initially believed. Of the 12 non-conference foes that the Gophers faced, four of them finished the season with a conference title.
Bowling Green (MAC Regular Season Champion)
North Dakota State (Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Champion)
Cornell (Ivy League Champions)
Louisville (Big East Regular Season and Tournament Champions)
The Golden Gophers’ biggest win of the year came over Louisville, the overall number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Minnesota has already faced nine different NCAA Tournament teams this season (North Dakota State, Cornell, Louisville and six teams selected from the Big Ten Conference) and compiled a 7-8 record against those opponents.
Tubby Time is Tourney Time
Tubby Smith is making his 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Smith is 29-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament (.691 pct). That ranks eighth among all active head coaches.
Smith made 14 consecutive NCAA trips from 1994-2007 between his tenures with Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky.
Smith is one of only nine coaches to ever take three schools to an NCAA Sweet 16.
Twenty for Tubby
With the win over Northwestern on Feb. 22, Tubby Smith secured his 16th straight 20-win season, the longest active streak in the nation and the third-longest streak in NCAA history. Smith’s streak began in 1994 and has stretched across four institutions (Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota). Smith has never had a losing season and his teams have reached the postseason every year since 1994.
Winning and More Winning
Minnesota has posted consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in school history (not including vacated games). (Clem Haskins won 20 or more games for six straight seasons from 1992-1998).
Minnesota’s 42 combined victories between 2007-08 and 2008-09 is the most in back-to-back seasons since compiling a school record 42 between 1988-89 and 1989-90 (42 also recorded from 1980-82).
Minnesota’s 21 regular season wins is the second-most in school history behind the 24 victories in 1976-77.
Minnesota reached 20 total wins for just the ninth time in school history.
