University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Iowa in Big Ten Home Opener
1/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2012
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Time: 8:00 p.m. CT
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Arena: Williams Arena (14,625)
Television: BTN
Eric Collins (Play-by-Play)
Eddie Johnson (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/1500 ESPN Twin Cities
Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play)
Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: 177th meeting (95-81)
Series (Home): 89th meeting (57-31)
Current Streak: W-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 13, 2011 (W, 62-45)
Tubby Smith vs. Iowa: Ninth meeting (7-1)
Minnesota vs. Current Big Ten: 702-739
Tubby Smith vs. Current Big Ten: 53-54
Game Day Tid-Bits:
• The Gophers return to Williams Arena to face the Hawkeyes after opening the Big Ten schedule with back-to-back road games. Penn State joined the Gophers as the only conference team to open with two games on the road.
• The Iowa Hawkeyes are coming off of a win over the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison.
• The Gophers come into the contest with a six-game win streak against the Hawkeyes, dating back to a 63-50 win during the 2008 Big Ten Conference schedule.
• Iowa's last victory over the Gophers in Minneapolis came during the 2007 conference schedule.
• Tubby Smith holds a 7-1 record against the Hawkeyes with the only loss coming in the third game of the 2005-06 season while Smith was at the University of Kentucky.
• Gopher redshirt freshman Elliott Eliason played on the East Coast All-Star team in Estonia this summer with Hawkeyes' Matt Gatens and Bryce Cartwright. Eliason averaged 3.8 pts, 6.0 rbs and 1.3 stls per game.
• Minnesota has led the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots during the last three seasons, including three of the top four season block totals in the history of the Gopher program: a program leading 201 in 2008-09, 199 in 2009-10 and 169 last season. Senior Ralph Sampson III led the team in blocked shots last season and is currently fourth all-time in program history with 183 career swats. Minnesota has blocked 85 shots already this season for an average of 5.7 per game, tops in Big Ten, led by Rodney Williams with 22. Williams is tied for second in the conference with an average of 1.5 bpg.
Mass Improvement:
• The Gophers' roster includes eight players that are competing in their first seasons in Minneapolis but the roster also includes five players that have played significant minutes in Maroon & Gold.
• Of those players, four are putting up career numbers. The other, senior Ralph Sampson III, is averaging just under the career numbers he posted last season.
• Also, one of the "newcomers", Julian Welch, is posting improved numbers from his only other season of Division 1 hoops, his freshman season at Cal-Davis.
| Players | Previous Best | 2011-12 |
| Ahanmisi | 2.1 pts, 1.1 ast | 4.8 pts, 2.3 ast |
| Armelin | 4.4 pts, 1.4 rbs | 5.9 pts, 1.8 rbs |
| Au. Hollins | 4.5 pts, 1.5 rbs | 8.5 pts, 2.0 rbs |
| Williams | 6.8 pts, 3.5 rbs | 9.7 pts, 4.9 rbs |
| Welch | 7.8 pts, 1.3 ast | 10.3 pts, 2.5 ast |
Ralph Sampson III & the Gopher Record Books:
Trevor Mbakwe had been the talk of the Gophers entering the season but the other senior co-captain, Ralph Sampson III, will more than likely finish his Minnesota career as one of the best big men in program history.
He has a chance to become just the fifth player to finish his Gopher career with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocks (Kevin McHale, Randy Bruer, Mychal Thompson and Michael Bauer).
Sampson III Career Numbers
• 109 career games played (98 starts)
• 904 career points (8.3 average)
• 561 career rebounds (5.1 average)
• 183 career blocks (1.7 average) - 4th-most in Gopher History
Second Half Burst:
• Through 15 games of the 2011-12 season, Minnesota is outscoring its opponents at a plus-94 (6.3 average) rate in the second half of games as opposed to a plus-38 (2.5 average) in the first half.
• The Gophers largest second half plus-minus of the season is +14, Nov. 14 vs. South Dakota State and Nov. 25 vs. Indiana State.
• Minnesota has only been outscored in the second half three times this season, by four on Nov. 21 vs. Mount St. Mary's and by seven against Dayton in Orlando and by one at Michigan (1/1).
• The Gophers have been behind at the start of the second half six times this season, including down 10 points to DePaul and Illinois. Minnesota has won three of the six games.
• Minnesota has shot better than 60% in the second half of four games this season, .650 (13-20) against Virginia Tech, .609 (14-23) against South Dakota State, .636 (14-22) against Central Michigan and .625 (15-24) in the conference opener at Illinois.
• The Gophers are shooting .564 (190-337) as a team in the second half of games this season.
