University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Host Hawkeyes on Senior Day
3/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior Day at The Barn - Gophers vs. Iowa: The Gophers hope to rebound after a tough loss at Michigan to open the month of March, as they will play host to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the regular-season finale for both teams on Sunday, March 7.
- The game, which will also feature a Senior Day celebration, is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network with Wayne Larrivee and former Northwestern great Shon Morris on the call.
- Minnesota won the first game of the home-and-home series this season with an 86-74 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Blake Hoffarber led the Gophers in the win with a game-high 24 points, including five three-point field goals. Matt Gatens led the Hawkeyes with 14 points.
- Minnesota's tri-captains, Devron Bostic, Damain Johnson & Lawrence Westbrook will be making their last regular-season appearance at Williams Arena. The team will also recognize a trio of senior managers in Tyler Biwan (Appleton, Wisc.), Andre Phillips (St. Paul, Minn.) and Ben Siebert (Eden Prairie, Minn.).
- The Gophers will be changing radio call numbers locally for Sunday's game, as fans will be able to listen to the voice of the Gophers Mike Grimm and former Gopher forward Spencer Tollackson on Jack FM, 104.1.
- Tickets are still available for Gopher fans wishing to see the Senior-Day presentation, the regular-season finale as well as the high flying Fargo Moorhead Acro Team during halftime. Tickets can be purchased at gophersports.com or by calling the Gopher Ticket Office at 612.624.8080 or 1-800-UGOPHER.
About the Golden Gophers:
- Golden Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith's all-time record stands at 446-182 (18th Season) while his Minnesota record is 59-37 (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. 28), Minnesota is 7th in assists per game (17.0), 11th in three-point FG percentage (.399), 17th in blocked shots (5.7), 18th in assist turnover ratio (1.33) and 34th in steals per game (8.3).
- Individually, Blake Hoffarber is second in the nation in 3-point FG percentage (.483) and 58th in three-point field goals per game (2.6). Also, Damian Johnson is first in the Big Ten Conference and sits 45th nationally with 2.0 steals per game.
- Minnesota leads the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots (164: 5.7 bpg), steals (235: 8.1 spg) and three-point field goal percentage (.393), is second in the league in defensive field goal percentage (.400) and third in field goal percentage (.471).
- Lawrence Westbrook leads Minnesota in scoring for the season with a career-high 12.6 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 Iowa game with 1,117 career points, which is 24th on the Gophers' all-time scoring list.
- Westbrook is averaging 12.6 ppg while shooting .476 (101-212) from the field over the last 22 games. Blake Hoffarber is close behind with 12.5 ppg and .549 (95-173) from the field and .504 (63-125) from behind the arc in that same stretch.
- Hoffarber is averaging a career-high 10.8 ppg this season and is shooting .510 (107-210) from the field and .474 (74-156) from three-point land, also career highs.
- 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 Hawkeyes:
- Todd Lickliter is in his 3rd season as the head coach at Iowa.
- Sophomore guard Matt Gatens leads the team in scoring at 12.5 ppg.
- Sophomore forward Aaron Fuller leads the team in rebounding at 6.0 rpg.
- The Hawkeyes are coming off of a 67-40 loss to Wisconsin in Madison on March 3.Series History:
- Minnesota is 92-81 against Iowa all-time. The series dates back to 1902.
- The Gophers have won the last three games against the Hawkeyes, including an 86-74 win in Iowa City on Jan. 2.
- The Gophers are 55-34 against the Hawkeyes in Minneapolis.
- Minnesota holds a record of 684-736 all-time within the Big Ten Conference.
- Tubby Smith is 4-1 against Iowa as a head coach, 3-0 while at Minnesota.
