University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers in Philly to Face St. Joseph's
12/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota vs. St. Joseph's:
Minnesota will take to the road for its first true road test in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Dec. 8 against St. Joseph's University. The game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Central at Hagen Arena.
- Minnesota and St. Joe's have met a total of three times in each school's history. The Gophers defeated the Hawks 97-74 last season at Williams Arena.
- St. Joseph's comes in to the game with a record of 3-5 on the season. The Hawks are led by sophomore guard Carl Jones, who is averaging a team-high 17.5 ppg.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 457-185 (20th Season), while his record at Minnesota is 70-40 (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 five double-doubles on the season: 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 16 rebounds 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. He contributed 16 points and two assists in 24 minutes played.
- Senior Blake Hoffarber leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game and is also dishing out a team-high 4.8 assists per game.
- Mbakwe leads the team in rebounding at 10.1 rebounds a game to go along with 14.0 points per game. Mbakwe was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
- Junior Ralph Sampson III is third on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game, leads the team with 2.3 blocks per game and is third in rebounding at 6.4 rebounds per game.
- The Gophers lead the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots through eight games. They have swatted 52 shots for an average of 6.50 bpg. Minnesota has led the conference in blocked shots the last two seasons.
- The Gophers made their first trip to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament last season, where they posted wins over Penn State (76-55), 11th-ranked Michigan State (72-67 in OT), and sixth-ranked Purdue (69-42), before losing to #5 Ohio State (90-61) in the title game.
About the Hawks:
- The Hawks are coached by Phil Martelli (16th Season).
- Martelli has a career record of 292-192 in 15 seasons at St. Joe's.
- St. Joseph's is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
- The Hawks have only played two homes games this season.
- St. Joseph's is led by a pair of guards, Carl Jones and Langston Galloway. Jones is averaging a team-high 17.5 ppg. Galloway is tied for the team lead with 5.1 rebounds per game.
Series History:
- The Gophers lead the all-time series 2-1.
- The Gophers defeated the Hawks 97-74 last season at Williams Arena. Hoffarber led Minnesota with 20 points and Sampson collected his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
- Minnesota also won 69-63 during the 1963-64 season. St. Joe's defeated the Gophers 91-66 during the 1965-66 season. Minnesota was ranked ninth and the Hawks were eighth heading in to the '65 matchup.
- The Gophers are 13-8 all-time against teams from the A-10.
(2-0 vs. Dayton; 1-0 vs. Duquesne; 0-2 vs. George Washington; 1-0 vs. La Salle; 0-1 vs. Richmond; 2-1 vs. St. Joseph's; 2-1 vs. St. Louis; 2-2 vs. Temple; 3-1 vs. Xavier) - Tubby Smith is 1-0 against St. Joseph's and a combined 5-3 against teams in the A-10.
(0-1 vs. Dayton; 1-0 vs. George Washington; 1-1 vs. UMass; 1-0 vs. St. Bonaventure; 1-0 vs. St. Joseph's; 1-0 vs. St. Louis; 0-1 vs. Xavier)
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