University of Minnesota Athletics
Game Preview: Minnesota vs. Saint Mary's
3/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 22, 2014
| Minnesota (21-13, 8-10) vs. Saint Mary's (23-11, 11-7) | |
| Date / Time | Sunday, March 23 | 2 p.m. |
| Location | Williams Arena - Directions |
| Tickets | MyGopherSports.com |
| Travel | Local Weather | Parking | Preferred Hotels |
| TV | ESPN2 |
| Radio | 1500 ESPN | Gopher Radio Network |
| Free Audio | Click Here |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Blog | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Saint Mary's |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Saint Mary's |
| Social Media | @GopherBBall | Facebook |
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, March 23, 2014
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Arena: Williams Arena (14,625)
TV: ESPN2 - Mark Neely (Play-by-Play); Mark Adams (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/1500 ESPN Twin Cities - Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Third meeting (1-1)
Series (Home): Third meeting (1-1)
Current Streak: L-1
Richard Pitino vs. Saint Mary's: First Meeting
Minnesota vs. West Coast Conference: 5-2*
(1-0 vs. LMU, 0-1 vs. Portland, 1-1 vs. Saint Mary's, 3-0 vs. Santa Clara)
*- games vs. BYU and Gonzaga vacated
Richard Pitino vs. WCC: First meeting
GAME DAY TID-BITS
• The top-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers continue play in the 2014 National Invitational Tournament, hosting No. 4-seed Saint Mary's in second round action Sunday.
• This is the 13th appearance in program history at the NIT, not including 1996 and 1998 appearances that were later vacated. The Gophers have amassed a 23-12 record (.657) in NIT games, excluding vacated seasons.
• Saint Mary's finished the regular season fourth in the WCC at 11-7, and fell to Gonzaga, 70-54 in the WCC tournament semifinals. The Gaels defeated No. 5-seed Utah, 70-58, at home on Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT.
• The Gophers finished the season 8-10 in Big Ten action, standing alone in seventh place. They matched their conference standing from a year ago, and fell to No. 2-seed Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
• This is Minnesota's first-ever number-one seed in the NIT, dating back to 2006 when the tournament was first fully seeded. In that time, the Gophers have been seeded #4 in 2006 and 2008, and #6 in 2012.
• Minnesota has followed its last two NIT trips with berths in the NCAA Tournament in the very next season.
• This is Minnesota's first game against the West Coast Conference this year, and first since Nov. 27, 2009, when the Gophers lost to Portland, 61-50, at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.
• Senior guard Austin Hollins broke Rodney Williams's school record last week when he took the court, marking Hollins's 135th career appearance in the Maroon and Gold. Hollins' school record now stands at 137 games.
