Gophers Open Big Ten Play at Wisconsin

Minnesota at Wisconsin - Big Ten Opener
Minnesota will hit the road to open the Big Ten Conference slate. The Gophers travel to Madison to battle border rival Wisconsin  on Tuesday, Dec. 28. The game is scheduled to tip at 6:00 p.m. from the Kohl Center.

Big Ten openers have not been kind to Gophers the last 10 seasons. Minnesota will head into the tilt against the Badgers with a 4-6 record in those games.
The Gophers opened the 2009-10 conference schedule with a 75-70 win over Penn State. Minnesota followed that up with a 86-74 road victory over Iowa. It was the first time in the Tubby Smith era that the team started 2-0 in conference play.
Minnesota hasn't opened Big Ten Conference play against Wisconsin since the 1996-97 season, a Gopher victory (the game has since been vacated).
The Gophers currently have a three-game win streak against the Badgers.
The Gophers finished conference play last season with a 9-9 record.

About the Golden Gophers:

Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 461-185 (20th Season), while his record at Minnesota is 74-40 (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 seven double-doubles on the season: 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's seven double-doubles are tied for sixth nationally.
Mbakwe contributed back-to-back 16 rebound games this season against Cornell and St. Joseph's. 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.
Mbakwe leads the team and is second in the Big Ten Conference in rebounding at 9.8 rebounds a game to go along with 13.2 points per game. Mbakwe was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and Big Ten Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 15-21.
Sophomore Rodney Williams contributed the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Akron (12/15).
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 11.8 points per game and 26.5 minutes in six games played.
Senior Blake Hoffarber leads the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game and is also dishing out a team-high 5.0 assists per game.
Hoffarber became the 36th Gopher player to reach the 1,000 point plateau with his sixth point against Akron (12/15). He currently sits at 1,011 points.
Sampson III is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game, leads the team with 2.2 blocks per game and is second in rebounding at 6.0 rebounds per game.
Sampson comes into the game against Wisconsin with 129 career blocks. That is good for ninth all-time on the Gophers' list.
The Gophers lead the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots and steals through 12 games. They have swatted 70 shots for an average of 5.83 bpg and swiped 106 balls for an average of 8.83 spg. Minnesota has led the conference in both categories the last two seasons.

About the Badgers:

Bo Ryan is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Badgers and owns a 227-84 record. He has a 610-187 career record in 26 seasons.
Wisconsin went 10-2 during the non-conference portion of its schedule, including a win over Coppin State on Dec. 23.
The Badgers are 107-43 in Big Ten play under Bo Ryan, tops in the conference.
Wisconsin comes into the game with a six-game winning streak.
Jon Leuer leads the team in scoring at 19.8 ppg and also is the team's leading rebounder at 7.3 rpg. He was voted 2011 preseason first-team All-Big Ten.

Series History:

Minnesota leads the all-time series 94-84. The series dates back to 1900.
The Gophers are 33-52 against the Badgers in Madison.
This will be the only regular-season matchup between the two teams this season.
Minnesota won the only matchup last season, 68-52 at Williams Arena.
Minnesota won at Wisconsin during the 2008-09 season, the first win in Madison since Jan. 15,1992 (not including vacated games). Also, the win was the first for Gophers at the Kohl Center, which opened in 1998 (10 attempts).
Minnesota holds a record of 689-737 all-time within the Big Ten Conference.
Tubby Smith is  4-2 against Wisconsin as a head coach.

Gophers in the Polls:

Minnesota heads into the game against Wisconsin as the 14th and 13th ranked team, respectively, in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.
Minnesota's No. 13 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll matches the highest ranking in the Tubby Smith era. The Gophers were also No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today poll on Nov. 29.
Minnesota was No. 17 & 16, respectively, in last week's polls.
The Gophers are ranked for the sixth-consecutive week, the longest streak since spending three weeks in the polls to start the 2009-10 season.
Minnesota spent seven weeks in the AP Top 25 during the 2008-09 season, reaching as high as No. 17 in the poll following its victory over Louisville at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Hoffarber Reaches Milestone:

Senior co-captain Blake Hoffarber sank a free-throw in the first half against Akron (12/15) to become the 36th member of the Golden Gopher 1,000-Point Club.
He heads into the game against Wisconsin with 1,011 career points, 33rd on the Gophers' all-time scoring list.
Hoffarber is leading the Gophers in scoring this season with a career-high 13.9 points per game. He averaged 8.5 as a freshman (289 total points), 6.4 ppg as a sophomore (204) and 10.0 ppg last season (351).
Hoffarber is already the Gophers' all-time leader in three-point field goals with 236.
He is currently fourth all-time in three-point FG percentage at .413 (236-571).
He set the Gopher season record for treys in a season with 85 during the 2009-10 season.
He is Minnesota's freshman record-holder for three-pointers in a season  with 70, the fourth most by a Gopher in a single-season.

Mbakwe making an impact:
Junior Trevor Mbakwe has made an immediate impact in his first season in Maroon & Gold. The St. Paul, Minn. native has started 11 of 12 games and has already collected seven double-doubles, tops in the Big Ten Conference.Mbakwe leads the team and is second in the conference in overall rebounding at 9.8 boards per game (118 total).

He is tied for the conference lead in defensive rebounds with 6.8 per game.
He is fourth overall in the conference with an average of 3.1 offensive rebounds a game.
Mbakwe leads the conference in FG percentage at .622 (56-90).
He is tied for ninth in the conference in blocked shots with 1.33 bpg.

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Players Mentioned

Blake Hoffarber

Devoe Joseph

Trevor Mbakwe

Ralph Sampson III

Rodney Williams

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University of Minnesota Athletics