Gophers Host Eastern Kentucky in Saturday Matinee

Upcoming Events

Schedule

No upcoming events at this time

Minnesota vs. Eastern Kentucky:
Minnesota is back at the friendly confines of Williams Arena for a Saturday matinee matchup against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The game is scheduled to tip at 12:00 p.m.

Minnesota and Eastern Kentucky have met only once in each school's history. The Gophers defeated the Colonels 61-59 at Williams Arena at the beginning of the 1977-78 season.
EKU comes into the game with a record of 5-4 on the season. The Colonels last played on Wednesday evening at home against Kentucky Christian.
The Gophers are coming off a road victory at St. Joseph's. Guard Devoe Joseph started his first game of the season and finished with a team-high 19 points. Trevor Mbakwe pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds to go along with 12 points.

About the Golden Gophers:

Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 458-185 (20th Season), while his record at Minnesota is 71-40 (Fourth Season).
Ralph Sampson III & Trevor Mbakwe both collected a double-double on Nov. 12 against Wofford. It was the first time since 2005 that a pair of Gophers finished with a double-double in the same game (Jonathan Williams - 11 points, 10 rebounds; Vincent Grier - 15 points, 10 rebounds vs. Iowa)
Mbakwe has a total of six double-doubles on the season, including three straight: 12 pts & 16 rbs at St. Joseph's; 12 pts & 16 rbs vs. Cornell; 18 pts & 11 rbs vs. Virginia on Nov. 29; 10 pts & 11 rbs vs. Siena on Nov. 15; 18 pts & 10 rbs vs. Western Kentucky on Nov. 18; 14 pts & 10 rbs vs. Wofford on Nov. 12.
Mbakwe has contributed back-to-back 16 rebound games. His 16 boards against Cornell (12/4) were the most by a Gopher since Zack Puchtel pulled down 15 against Michigan in the first round of the 2006 Big Ten Tournament.
Junior guard Devoe Joseph made is 2010-11 debut against Virginia and started his first game of the season at St. Joseph's. He is averaging 13.3 points per game and 25.3 minutes in three games played.
Senior Blake Hoffarber leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game and is also dishing out a team-high 4.6 assists per game.
Mbakwe leads the team in rebounding at 10.8 rebounds a game to go along with 13.8 points per game. Mbakwe was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Junior Ralph Sampson III is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game, leads the team with 2.2 blocks per game and is second in rebounding at 6.2 rebounds per game.
The Gophers lead the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots and steals through nine games. They have swatted 56 shots for an average of 6.22 bpg and swiped 77 balls for an average of 8.56 spg. Minnesota has led the conference in both categories the last two seasons.

About the Colonels:

The Colonels are coached by Jeff Neubauer (6th Season).
Neubauer has a career record of 92-74, all at EKU.
Prior to coming to Eastern, Neubauer spent three seasons on John Beilien's staff at West Virginia.
Eastern Kentucky is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
EKU has a trio of players averaging double-figures, led by forward Spencer Perrin at 12.9 ppg. He is also averaging a team-high 4.4 rbg.

 
Series History:

The Gophers lead the all-time series 1-0.
The Gophers defeated the Colonels 61-59 during the 1977-78 season at Williams Arena.
The Gophers are 8-1 all-time against teams from the Ohio Valley Conference.
(0-1 vs. Austin Peay; 1-0 vs. Eastern Illinois; 1-0 vs. Eastern Kentucky; 1-0 vs. Morehead State; 1-0 vs. Murray State; 1-0 vs. SIU Edwardsville; 2-0 vs. Tennessee Tech; 1-0 vs. Tennessee Martin)
Minnesota defeated Tennessee Tech last season at Williams Arena. Prior to that the last team the Gophers played out of the OVC was Morehead State during the 2000-01 season.
Tubby Smith is 5-0 against Eastern Kentucky and a combined 15-0 against teams in the OVC.
(1-0 vs. Austin Peay; 5-0 vs. Eastern Kentucky; 1-0 vs. Jacksonville State; 3-0 vs. Morehead State; 2-0 vs. Tennessee State; 3-0 vs. Tennessee Tech)

Upcoming Events

University of Minnesota Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Blake Hoffarber

Devoe Joseph

Trevor Mbakwe

Ralph Sampson III

Related Videos