University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Play Host to Spartans at Williams
1/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota vs. Michigan State: The Minnesota Golden Gophers welcome the Michigan State Spartans to Williams Arena on Saturday, Jan. 23 for the first game of what is a two-game homestand for the locals. The game is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and will be broadcast on CBS with Gus Johnson and Greg Anthony on the call.
The Gophers will be trying to stop a seven-game losing streak against the Spartans that dates back to a 69-55 Minnesota victory at Williams Arena on Feb. 11, 2006. In that game, Vincent Grier scored 15 points and grabbed nine boards against a MSU team that was ranked 11th in the country.
Michigan State comes to the Twin Cities as the 6th ranked team in the country and fresh off of a 70-62 victory over Iowa on Jan. 20 in East Lansing. The Spartans have started the Big Ten schedule with six straight victories, including a win over the Gophers 60-53 10 days ago.
The Gophers haven't defeated a Top 10 team at Williams Arena since they beat the 9th ranked Indiana Hoosiers 77-75 on Feb. 9, 2000.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 441-176 (18th Season) while his Minnesota record is 54-31 (Third Season)
- The Gophers are amongst the nations leaders in many statistical categories. As of the NCAA's most recent stats (Jan. 17), Minnesota is seventh in turnover margin (5.3), eighth in steals per game (10.5), ninth in assists per game (17.5), 14th in blocked shots (6.4), 21st in scoring margin (14.4), 22st in defensive field goal percentage (38.5) and 21st in assist turnover ratio (1.35) Individually, Blake Hoffarber is third in the nation in 3-point FG percentage (.495) while Al Nolen is 11th in assist turnover ratio (2.96) and 25th in steals per game (2.4). Also, Damian Johnson joins Nolen on the steals list, as he sits 29th nationally with 2.3 spg.
- Minnesota leads the Big Ten Conference in defensive field goal percentage (.385), blocked shots (115: 6.4 bpg) and steals (189: 10.5 spg).
- Blake Hoffarber is averaging a career-high 11.4 ppg this season and is shooting .526 (70-133) from the field and .495 (50-101) from three-point land, also career highs.
- Hoffarber is averaging 15.2 ppg and is shooting .604 (58-96) from the field and .557 (39-70) from behind the arc over the last 11 games. Lawrence Westbrook is close behind at 13.7 ppg while shooting .523 from the field.
- Westbrook leads Minnesota in scoring for the season with a career-high 13.3 points per game. He enters the contest 10 points away from 1,000 for his career.
- Ralph Sampson III is the Gophers' leading rebounder at 5.8 boards per game. He missed two games (Iowa & Purdue) with a sprained right ankle.
- The Gophers went 8-0 this season at Williams Arena during the non-conference schedule. Under Smith, Minnesota is 25-0 in regular season non-conference games at the Barn. Dating back to the 2006-07 season under Jim Molinari, Minnesota has won 27 consecutive non-conference regular season home games.
- Smith is 38-8 (.826) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.7 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (46 games). The Gophers allowed just 58.4 ppg at the Barn in 2008-09 in 19 games and 62.2 in 17 games during the 2007-08 season. Under Smith, opponents have only reached 70 points 10 times in 46 games at the Barn (22% of the time).About the Spartans:
- Tom Izzo is in his 15th season as the head coach at Michigan State. He has guided the Spartans to five NCAA Final Four's and the 2000 NCAA Championship.
- The Spartans have started 6-0 in conference play with wins over Northwestern, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois & Iowa.
- MSU boasts a starting lineup with three double-digit scorers, led by junior guard Kalin Lucas at 15.5 points per game. He is the reigning Big Ten Conference Player of the Year.Series History:
- Minnesota is 53-50 against Michigan State all-time. The series dates back to 1943.
- The Gophers have lost the last seven matchups with the Spartans, including a 60-53 setback 10 days ago in East Lansing. This is the longest streak by either team in the series.
- Minnesota's last win in the series was 69-55 on Feb. 11, 2006 at Williams Arena.
- The Gophers are 32-17 against the Spartans in Minneapolis, 20-38 in East Lansing and 1-1 at a neutral site.
- Minnesota holds a record of 679-730 all-time within the Big Ten Conference.
- Tubby Smith is 2-10 against Michigan State as a head coach.
