University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to Face Illini in Champaign
2/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota at Illinois: After a heartbreaking loss to the #3 Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday night, the Gophers have to regroup for a matchup in Champaign, Ill. against Illinois on Feb. 27 at Assembly Hall.
The game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Central and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network with Tom Hamilton and former Ohio State All-American Jim Jackson on the call.
Minnesota has traveled to Champaign 24 times since the 1977-78 season (not counting vacated years) and have only come away with a victory once, a 75-69 win during the aforementioned 1977-78 season. The Gophers lost to the Illini last season 41-52 at Assembly Hall.
Minnesota defeated Illinois 59-36 on Jan. 29, 2009 at Williams Arena to end a 20-game winless streak against the Illini that dated back to the 1992-93 conference season.
Illinois comes in to the game off of a 51-44 victory over the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Tuesday night.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 445-181 (18th Season) while his Minnesota record is 58-36 (Third Season)
- The Gophers are amongst the nations leaders in many statistical categories. As of the NCAA's most recent stats (Thru games of Feb. 21), Minnesota is 6th in assists per game (17.3), 11th in three-point FG percentage (.399), 14th in blocked shots (6.1), 20th in steals per game (8.8) and 20th in assist turnover ratio (1.32).
- Individually, Blake Hoffarber is second in the nation in 3-point FG percentage (.490) and 45th in three-point field goals per game (2.7). Also, Damian Johnson is first in the Big Ten Conference and sits 36th nationally with 2.0 steals per game.
- Minnesota leads the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots (160: 5.9 bpg), steals (230: 8.5 spg), defensive field goal percentage (.396) and three-point field goal percentage (.399) and is third in field goal percentage (.473).
- Blake Hoffarber is averaging a career-high 11.3 ppg this season and is shooting .523 (104-199) from the field and .490 (72-147) from three-point land, also career highs.
- Hoffarber is averaging 13.3 ppg and is shooting .568 (92-162) from the field and .526 (61-116) from behind the arc over the last 20 games. Lawrence Westbrook is close behind at 13.2 ppg while shooting .497 from the field in that same stretch.
- Westbrook leads Minnesota in scoring for the season with a career-high 13.1 points per game. He joined the Gophers' 1,000 point club with a pair of free throws in the second half against Michigan State on Jan. 23. He enters the Illinois game with 1,105 career points, which is 25th on the Gophers' all-time scoring list.
- Ralph Sampson III is the Gophers' leading rebounder with a career-high 6.3 boards per game. He scored a career-high 21 points and hit his first collegiate career three-pointer against Purdue (2/24).
- Al Nolen will miss the rest of the season after being declared academic ineligible by the NCAA.
- 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 41-11 (.804) overall at Williams Arena during his two-plus seasons at Minnesota.
- Minnesota is allowing just 59.8 points per game at Williams Arena under Smith (51 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 11 times in 52 games at the Barn (21% of the time).About the Illini:
- Illinois is coached by Bruce Weber (12th Season, 7th at Illinois).
- The Fighting Illini are 18-10 this season overall and 10-5 in conference play.
- The Illini boast a starting lineup with four double-digit scorers, led by junior guard Demetri McCamey at 15.2 ppg and also leads the team and conference with 6.8 assists per game.
- Junior forward Mike Davis leads the team, and is second in the conference, in rebounding at 8.6 rpg.Series History:
- Minnesota is 58-105 against Illinois all-time. The series dates back to 1906.
- The Gophers and Illini will meet only once during the 2010 Big Ten regular season.
- Minnesota's last victory over Illinois in Champaign came during the 1977-78 season, 75-69 at Assembly Hall.
**The Gophers defeated the Illini 67-66 during the 1995-96 season in Champaign but the game has since been vacated.
- Minnesota ended a 20-game Illinois win streak by winning 59-36 on Jan. 29, 2009 at Williams Arena.
- Minnesota holds a record of 683-735 all-time within the Big Ten Conference.
- Tubby Smith is 2-4 against Illinois as a head coach.
