University of Minnesota Athletics
Preview: Gophers at #22/21 Wisconsin
3/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2017
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, March 5, 2017
Time: 5:00 p.m. CT
Location: Madison, Wis.
Arena: Kohl Center (17,230)
TV: BTN - Brandon Gaudin (Play-by-Play);
Jon Crispin (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/1500 ESPN -
Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81/XM 81
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: 191st Meeting (96-94)*
Series (Away): 91st Meeting (33-57)
Current Streak: L-6
Richard Pitino vs. Wisconsin: 1-6
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 746-809*
Richard Pitino vs. Big Ten: 29-47
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The Minnesota men's basketball team looks to put the wraps on a historic regular season Sunday afternoon, traveling to Wisconsin. The Gophers have won a record 23 regular season games for just the second time in school history (excluding the vacated 1996-97 season), and can set a new mark with a victory over the Badgers.
• With a record of 23-7 to date, the Gophers are the NCAA's most improved team. The Gophers have also now tallied five road wins in conference play, their most since 1982. Their current eight-game win streak in B1G play is the best since the 1973 stretch of nine, which they could match Sunday in Madison.
• In the latest edition of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) as of Mar. 3, the Gophers stand in 18th place. Minnesota is the highest ranked Big Ten team in the NCAA RPI rankings. The Gophers once again received votes in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls this week.
• Redshirt junior Reggie Lynch sits among the nation's leaders in blocked shots. The Edina, Minn. native now has 101 blocks on the season, leading both the team and the Big Ten Conference and second nationally with an average of 3.5 blocks per game. He is spearheading the Minnesota team blocking effort which leads Division I at 7.0 blocks per game. Lynch has also made his mark on the record books, becoming the new leader for single season blocks among all-time Gophers. He is just the seventh player in Big Ten history to block more than 100 shots in a season.
• The Gophers are on something of a historic streak, winning seven straight Big Ten games for the first time since 1978. Included in that is Wednesday's victory at 24th-ranked Maryland, becoming the first time since 1981 that a Gophers team has topped two ranked teams on the road during a single season (excluding vacated seasons).
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
• Wisconsin enters Sunday's game tied with the Gophers in the conference standings at 11-6. The Badgers have dropped their last three games, including a 59-57 loss to Iowa at home on Wednesday.
• Bronson Koenig continues to pace the Badger offense with 14.1 points per game while Ethan Happ is scoring 14 points per game along with team highs of 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest.
SEED TALK
• With a win on Sunday, the Gophers will secure the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament next week.
• Minnesota has never had a seed higher than No. 5 in the Big Ten Tournament, since its inception in 1998.
• The Gophers can secure the No. 4 seed and a double bye in the tournament if Maryland defeats Michigan State on Saturday afternoon in College Park. Since the tournament expanded, Minnesota has never had a double-bye.
WINNING SEASON
• With 11 wins in the books for the Gophers in conference play thus far, Minnesota has secured a winning record in the Big Ten for the first time since 2005 (10-6).
• Thursday's win over the Cornhuskers would mark the first 11-win season in Big Ten play since 1990, when the Gophers finished 11-7 and 23-9 overall.
• The Gophers' current eight-game win streak is the first since 1973 when the team won nine in a row en route to a 21-5 record.
• Minnesota is looking to break the school overall win record of 25, set in the Gophers' 2013-14 NIT Championship season in Richard Pitino's first season in Dinkytown.
MURPH MADNESS
• Sophomore Jordan Murphy has exploded in the second half of the Big Ten season to help lead the Gophers to an 8-0 record.
• In that span, Murphy is averaging 15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game on 60 percent field goal shooting. He has posted six double-doubles in the last eight games.
• Murphy is second in the Big Ten in double-doubles (11) behind Purdue's Caleb Swanigan. His 8.8 rebounds per game is fourth in the conference.
• The Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection a year ago is second in conference-only game rebounding statistics, pulling down 9.6 boards on average in the Gophers' 17 Big Ten games to date.
THE BLOCK KING
• Redshirt junior Reggie Lynch has made his mark on the Gophers record books in his first season on the court, setting a new single-season mark for blocks with 101.
• Last Saturday, Lynch eclipsed Randy Breuer's previous school record of 87 with an 11-block performance, including six in the first half alone to claim the record. Lynch also surpassed Breuer's record of 54 blocks in Big Ten conference play, as the Edina, Minn. native now has 55 in the Gophers' 16 B1G games.
• Lynch's 11 blocks was the second most in a game by any Gopher, just one shy of Mychal Thompson's 12 against Ohio State on Jan. 26, 1976. It was the most by any player this season in the country and most since 2015 nationally, as well as the most by a Big Ten player since OSU's Ken Johnson had 11 vs. Iowa in February 2000.
• Lynch is second in the country in blocks per game at 3.5, trailing just Nicholls's Liam Thomas (4.2).
• He has helped lead the Gophers to a new single-season team record as well, passing the 201 blocks set by the 2008-09 squad.
| Minnesota (23-7, 11-6) at #22/21 Wisconsin (22-8, 11-6) | |
| Date / Time | Sunday, Mar. 5 | 5 p.m. |
| Location | Madison, Wis. - Kohl Center |
| TV/Live Video | BTN/BTN2Go |
| Radio | 1500 ESPN |
| Live Updates | Follow Live |
| Live Stats | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Wisconsin |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Wisconsin |
| Social Media | @GopherMBB | Facebook |
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, March 5, 2017
Time: 5:00 p.m. CT
Location: Madison, Wis.
Arena: Kohl Center (17,230)
TV: BTN - Brandon Gaudin (Play-by-Play);
Jon Crispin (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/1500 ESPN -
Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81/XM 81
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: 191st Meeting (96-94)*
Series (Away): 91st Meeting (33-57)
Current Streak: L-6
Richard Pitino vs. Wisconsin: 1-6
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 746-809*
Richard Pitino vs. Big Ten: 29-47
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The Minnesota men's basketball team looks to put the wraps on a historic regular season Sunday afternoon, traveling to Wisconsin. The Gophers have won a record 23 regular season games for just the second time in school history (excluding the vacated 1996-97 season), and can set a new mark with a victory over the Badgers.
• With a record of 23-7 to date, the Gophers are the NCAA's most improved team. The Gophers have also now tallied five road wins in conference play, their most since 1982. Their current eight-game win streak in B1G play is the best since the 1973 stretch of nine, which they could match Sunday in Madison.
• In the latest edition of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) as of Mar. 3, the Gophers stand in 18th place. Minnesota is the highest ranked Big Ten team in the NCAA RPI rankings. The Gophers once again received votes in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls this week.
• Redshirt junior Reggie Lynch sits among the nation's leaders in blocked shots. The Edina, Minn. native now has 101 blocks on the season, leading both the team and the Big Ten Conference and second nationally with an average of 3.5 blocks per game. He is spearheading the Minnesota team blocking effort which leads Division I at 7.0 blocks per game. Lynch has also made his mark on the record books, becoming the new leader for single season blocks among all-time Gophers. He is just the seventh player in Big Ten history to block more than 100 shots in a season.
• The Gophers are on something of a historic streak, winning seven straight Big Ten games for the first time since 1978. Included in that is Wednesday's victory at 24th-ranked Maryland, becoming the first time since 1981 that a Gophers team has topped two ranked teams on the road during a single season (excluding vacated seasons).
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
• Wisconsin enters Sunday's game tied with the Gophers in the conference standings at 11-6. The Badgers have dropped their last three games, including a 59-57 loss to Iowa at home on Wednesday.
• Bronson Koenig continues to pace the Badger offense with 14.1 points per game while Ethan Happ is scoring 14 points per game along with team highs of 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest.
SEED TALK
• With a win on Sunday, the Gophers will secure the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament next week.
• Minnesota has never had a seed higher than No. 5 in the Big Ten Tournament, since its inception in 1998.
• The Gophers can secure the No. 4 seed and a double bye in the tournament if Maryland defeats Michigan State on Saturday afternoon in College Park. Since the tournament expanded, Minnesota has never had a double-bye.
WINNING SEASON
• With 11 wins in the books for the Gophers in conference play thus far, Minnesota has secured a winning record in the Big Ten for the first time since 2005 (10-6).
• Thursday's win over the Cornhuskers would mark the first 11-win season in Big Ten play since 1990, when the Gophers finished 11-7 and 23-9 overall.
• The Gophers' current eight-game win streak is the first since 1973 when the team won nine in a row en route to a 21-5 record.
• Minnesota is looking to break the school overall win record of 25, set in the Gophers' 2013-14 NIT Championship season in Richard Pitino's first season in Dinkytown.
MURPH MADNESS
• Sophomore Jordan Murphy has exploded in the second half of the Big Ten season to help lead the Gophers to an 8-0 record.
• In that span, Murphy is averaging 15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game on 60 percent field goal shooting. He has posted six double-doubles in the last eight games.
• Murphy is second in the Big Ten in double-doubles (11) behind Purdue's Caleb Swanigan. His 8.8 rebounds per game is fourth in the conference.
• The Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection a year ago is second in conference-only game rebounding statistics, pulling down 9.6 boards on average in the Gophers' 17 Big Ten games to date.
THE BLOCK KING
• Redshirt junior Reggie Lynch has made his mark on the Gophers record books in his first season on the court, setting a new single-season mark for blocks with 101.
• Last Saturday, Lynch eclipsed Randy Breuer's previous school record of 87 with an 11-block performance, including six in the first half alone to claim the record. Lynch also surpassed Breuer's record of 54 blocks in Big Ten conference play, as the Edina, Minn. native now has 55 in the Gophers' 16 B1G games.
• Lynch's 11 blocks was the second most in a game by any Gopher, just one shy of Mychal Thompson's 12 against Ohio State on Jan. 26, 1976. It was the most by any player this season in the country and most since 2015 nationally, as well as the most by a Big Ten player since OSU's Ken Johnson had 11 vs. Iowa in February 2000.
• Lynch is second in the country in blocks per game at 3.5, trailing just Nicholls's Liam Thomas (4.2).
• He has helped lead the Gophers to a new single-season team record as well, passing the 201 blocks set by the 2008-09 squad.
Players Mentioned
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballCoach Medved Previews the Crown
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Tuesday, March 10
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Tuesday, March 10