University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Buckeyes in Championship
3/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gophers Face #1 Ohio State in Championship:
- Minnesota, the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, will face No. 1 seed and fifth-ranked Ohio State in the championship at the Big Ten Tournament on March 14 at 3:30 p.m. (CT) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
- Minnesota is a No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the third time (1999-2002-2008) and holds a 6-3 record.
- The Gophers are now 8-5 all-time in Big Ten Tournament first round games and 12-12 overall following wins over 11th-seeded Penn State (76-55), third-seeded Michigan State (72-67 in OT) and second seeded Purdue (69-42)..
- Tubby Smith is 34-12 in conference tournament action as a head coach and is 6-2 at Minnesota. He has won at least one game in 16 of 18 conference tournaments.
- The Gophers are facing the Buckeyes for the first time in the Big Ten Tournament.
- This will be the third meeting of the season between the Gophers and Buckeyes. Minnesota defeated OSU 73-62 at Williams Arena and lost 63-85 in Columbus.About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 450-182 (18th Season), while his record at Minnesota is 63-37 (Third Season)
- The Gophers are among the nation's leaders in many statistical categories. As of the NCAA's most recent stats (Through games of March 11), Minnesota is 5th in assists per game (17.1), 8th in three-point FG percentage (.404), 15th in assist turnover ratio (1.37), 19th in blocked shots (5.6), 21st in field goal percentage (.477), 37th in both field goal percentage defense (.400) and scoring margin (+9.6), and 38th in steals per game (8.1).
- Individually, Blake Hoffarber leads the nation in 3-point FG percentage (.481) and 70th in three-point field goals per game (2.5). Also, Damian Johnson is first in the Big Ten Conference and sits 59th nationally with 1.9 steals per game.
- Through last night's games, Minnesota leads the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots (183: 5.5 bpg), steals (263: 8.0 spg), assists (556: 16.8 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.403), and scoring offense (73.3 ppg), while ranking second in the league for field goal percentage (.475) and defensive field goal percentage (.397) and third in offensive rebounds per game (10.9).
- Lawrence Westbrook leads Minnesota in scoring for the season with a career-high 12.5 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 Big Ten Tournament title game against Ohio State with 1,163 career points, which is 24th on the Gophers' all-time scoring list and just five points behind Michael Bauer (1,168 points during 2000-04).
- Westbrook has scored 20 or more points seven times in his Gopher career, all Minnesota wins, including a career-high 29 points in a win over Wisconsin last season and against Penn State this season at Williams Arena.
- Hoffarber is averaging a career-high 10.5 ppg this season and is shooting .509 (117-of-230) from the field and .477 (83-of-174) from three-point land, both also career highs. His 83 treys for the season is a new single-season record at Minnesota, breaking the previous mark of 79 set by Lawrence McKenzie during 2007-08.
- Hoffarber, a junior, hit two treys against Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, added four more against Michigan State and one against Purdue to give him 198 for his career, which is also a Minnesota record. He passed Michael Bauer's record of 191 in the win over the Nittany Lions.
- Ralph Sampson III is the Gophers' leading rebounder with a career-high 6.0 boards per game. He has led the team in rebounding in 13 of the team's 33 games.
- Al Nolen is out for the rest of the season after being declared academically ineligible by the NCAA.
- Minnesota finished 9-9 in Big Ten Conference play for the second-consecutive season, its first back-to-back .500 or better conference seasons since 2001-02 & 2002-03.About the Buckeyes:
- Thad Matta is in his 5th season as the head coach at Ohio State. He is 4-6 against Minnesota.
- OSU's leading scorer and rebounder is Big Ten Conference Player of the Year junior Evan Turner at 19.9 ppg and 9.1 rpg. He missed six games this season with a back injury.
- The Buckeyes boast a starting lineup with four double-digit scorers, including Turner, William Buford (14.5), Jon Diebler (12.6) and David Lighty (12.5). Their other starter, Dallas Lauderdale, lead the conference in blocked shots with an average of 2.1 bpg.Series History:
- Minnesota is 49-77 against Ohio State all-time. The series dates back to 1904.
- Minnesota won the opener in the series, 71-62 on Jan. 9 at Williams Arena. OSU won the game in Columbus on Jan. 31 85-63.
- The Gophers and Buckeyes are meeting for the first time ever in the history of the Big Ten Tournament.
- Minnesota holds a record of 688-736 all-time within the Big Ten Conference.
- Tubby Smith is 3-3 against Ohio State as a head coach.Minnesota 69, Purdue 42 - Big Ten Tournament
- Minnesota becomes just the second No. 6 seed to advance to the title game, joining Iowa, who defeated No. 4 Indiana, 63-61, in 2001.
- Prior to Tubby Smith's arrival in Minneapolis, the Gophers had a 4-10 record in the Big Ten Tournament. Since then, the Gophers are 6-2, advancing to a pair of semifinal games and to this year's title game.
- Tubby Smith now has a 34-12 all-time mark in conference tournament play and is looking for his fifth conference championship.
- Minnesota advances to its first ever Big Ten Tournament game.
- The Gophers have played every team in the Big Ten Tournament besides Ohio State. The two will square off on Sunday.
- The 27-point victory was the largest in the semifinal round and the second-largest in Big Ten Tournament history (29 by Illinois over Northwestern, 94-65, in the 2003 quarterfinals).
- In his last 26 games, Blake Hoffarber is shooting .503 from the three-point line (72-for-143).
- Colton Iverson is shooting .789 from the field (15-for-19) during the tournament. The tournament record is .765 by Jarrod Gee of Illinois (13-for-17) in 1998.
- Minnesota has won seven of its last eight games. The Gophers, who were second in the Big Ten in field-goal percentage defense, have held opponents to a combined .345 from the field (136-of-394) in those wins. In four of those games, Minnesota has held the opposing team's leading scorer in check - Verdell Jones, IND (10), Demetri McCamey, ILL (9), Talor Battle, PSU (10), E'TWaun Moore, PUR (2).
- After falling to Purdue twice this season, the Gophers downed the Boilers for the first time in 2009-10
