University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers, Florida State to Appear on ESPNU
8/15/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug 15, 2013
The University of Minnesota men's basketball team's Big Ten/ACC Challenge tilt against Florida State on Dec. 3 will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST, the Big Ten Conference announced today. The game, to be played at Williams Arena, will be broadcast live by ESPNU.
Minnesota and Florida State will be meeting for the ninth time in each school's history, including the second-straight matchup in the Challenge. Minnesota defeated the Seminoles 77-68 last season at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee. In all, the schools have met a total of four times as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
The Gophers are 6-8 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge after posting victories in their past two matchups. The ACC leads the series 10-3-1 after the 2012 event ended in a 6-6 tie.
Minnesota returns its top two scorers - Andre Hollins (14.6 ppg), Austin Hollins (10.7 ppg) - from a team that finished the season with 21 wins, including a victory over UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Seminoles return three starters to their 2013-14 squad, including senior All-American candidate Okaro White (12.4 ppg and a team-leading 5.9 rpg), point guard Devon Bookert (6.5 ppg and 2.4 apg) and guard Aaron Thomas (6.0 ppg and 2.4 rpg) to their starting line-up. Florida State finished the 2012-13 season with an 18-16 record and played in the NIT, marking their school record eighth consecutive postseason tournament appearance.
All 12 Big Ten teams and 12 of the 15 ACC teams will participate in the 2013 Challenge, including the three newest ACC members Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Clemson, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest will not play in the 2013 event. Seven of the 12 matchups are first-time Challenge games, while three are repeats from last year.
The ACC and Big Ten split last year's Challenge with six wins each. In the event of a tie, the Commissioner's Cup remains with the conference that won the previous year, which was the Big Ten in 2011. The ACC holds a 10-3-1 Challenge record, winning the first 10 events (1999-2008) while the Big Ten won the next three (2009-2011).
2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule (times are Central)
| Tue., Dec. 3 | Indiana at Syracuse | 6:15 p.m. | ESPN |
| Illinois at Georgia Tech | 6:15 p.m. | ESPN2 | |
| Penn State at Pittsburgh | 6:30 p.m. | ESPNU | |
| Michigan at Duke | 8:15 p.m. | ESPN | |
| Notre Dame at Iowa | 8:15 p.m. | ESPN2 | |
| Florida State at Minnesota | 8:30 p.m. | ESPNU | |
| Wed., Dec. 4 | Maryland at Ohio State | 6:00 p.m. | ESPN/ESPN2 |
| Wisconsin at Virginia | 6:00 p.m. | ESPN/ESPN2 | |
| Northwestern at NC State | 6:30 p.m. | ESPNU | |
| North Carolina at Michigan State | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN | |
| Boston College at Purdue | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN2 | |
| Miami at Nebraska | 8:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
