University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, November 15
Salt Lake City, UT
8:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Utah
Players Mentioned
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Kelly Hagenson
Gophers Wrap Up Road Trip at Utah Friday
11/14/2019 12:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: Pac-12 Network –
Krista Blunk (Play-by-Play); Matt Muehlebach (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/KFAN 100.3 FM – Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 380/SiriusXM 970
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Fifth Meeting (2-2)
Series (Away): Second Meeting (0-1)
Current Streak: W-1
Richard Pitino vs. Utah: 1-0
Minnesota vs. Pac-12: 41-27*
Richard Pitino vs. Pac-12: 2-0
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota men's basketball team wraps up its three-game road trip on Friday night, traveling to Salt Lake City to face Utah in the second game of a home-and-home series.
• Minnesota is embarking on one of the toughest starts to the schedule with three games away from home, all against high-major conference competition. The Gophers have not faced three high-major teams in their first four games (excluding preseason tournaments) since 1969 (Notre Dame, UCLA, at Iowa State), and not played three such opponents away from home since 1956, starting the season at Notre Dame, Marquette and Creighton twice. No other team in the country will have played three power conference opponents in their first four games in non-conference play.
• Friday's game is the third of six non-conference games against power conference opponents. After Oklahoma (Big XII) and Butler (BIG EAST), remaining in the slate are DePaul (BIG EAST), Clemson (ACC), Oklahoma State (Big XII) and Utah (Pac-12) – all coming before the end of the calendar year.
• Although early in the season, the Gophers already rank highly among the nation's college basketball teams in several categories. As of Nov. 14, Minnesota is 41st in 3-pointers attempted per game (B1G: 1st), 35th in blocked shots per game (B1G: 6th), and 41st in 3-point field goal defense (B1G: 2nd). Payton Willis is 36th in the country in assist/turnover radio (4.5, B1G: 1st) and 17th in 3-pointers attempted (B1G: 1st) while Daniel Oturu is eighth in double doubles (B1G: 1st) and 14th in the country in blocks (B1G: 3rd) while 40th in field goal percentage (B1G: 1st).
• Oturu had one of the best nights of his career on Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, setting new career-bests in scoring (24 points), field goals (9) and 3-pointers made (2) and minutes played (38) while adding 10 rebounds for his 10th career double-double in the loss to Butler.
SCOUTING THE UTES
• Utah is 2-0 on the season and coming off one of the most dominant wins in NCAA history, defeating Mississippi Valley State 143-49 on Saturday night. The 94-point margin of victory set a new NCAA record in a matchup of two Division I foes.
• Two different Utes recorded triple-doubles in the game in Both Gach (12 pts/10 rbs/10 ast) and Rylan Jones (10 pts/10 rbs/11 ast).
• Utah won its opener at Nevada, 79-74.
• The Utes received 14 votes in this week's Associated Press Top-25 Poll, which would place them 34th in the country.
• Timmy Allen leads the Utes offense scoring 24.5 points per game thus far, while seven Utah players average double-figure scoring heading into Friday's game.
GOPHERS VS. THE PAC-12
• The Gophers have amassed a record of 43-27 (.614) against the current membership of the Pacific-12 Conference. MInnesota has faced every Pac-12 school at least once.
• Series records are as follows: Arizona (3-0), Arizona State (4-1), Cal (2-2), Colorado (2-0), Oregon (5-3), Oregon State (6-1), USC (4-2), Stanford (5-1), UCLA (1-5), Utah (2-2), Washington (8-9), Washington State (1-1).
• Prior to last season in which the Gophers played Utah and Washington, Minnesota had not faced a Pac-12 opponent since the 2012-13 season, when they faced Stanford and USC in the regular season and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
• For the first time in 16 days, the Gophers will return to Williams Arena to open a four-game homestand starting with Central Michigan on Thursday, Nov. 21.
• Tip off is set for 7 p.m., with BTN+ providing the web stream and KTLK 1130 AM/103.5 FM carrying the Gopher Radio Network broadcast in the Twin Cities.
TV: Pac-12 Network –
Krista Blunk (Play-by-Play); Matt Muehlebach (Analyst)
Radio: Learfield/KFAN 100.3 FM – Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 380/SiriusXM 970
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Fifth Meeting (2-2)
Series (Away): Second Meeting (0-1)
Current Streak: W-1
Richard Pitino vs. Utah: 1-0
Minnesota vs. Pac-12: 41-27*
Richard Pitino vs. Pac-12: 2-0
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota men's basketball team wraps up its three-game road trip on Friday night, traveling to Salt Lake City to face Utah in the second game of a home-and-home series.
• Minnesota is embarking on one of the toughest starts to the schedule with three games away from home, all against high-major conference competition. The Gophers have not faced three high-major teams in their first four games (excluding preseason tournaments) since 1969 (Notre Dame, UCLA, at Iowa State), and not played three such opponents away from home since 1956, starting the season at Notre Dame, Marquette and Creighton twice. No other team in the country will have played three power conference opponents in their first four games in non-conference play.
• Friday's game is the third of six non-conference games against power conference opponents. After Oklahoma (Big XII) and Butler (BIG EAST), remaining in the slate are DePaul (BIG EAST), Clemson (ACC), Oklahoma State (Big XII) and Utah (Pac-12) – all coming before the end of the calendar year.
• Although early in the season, the Gophers already rank highly among the nation's college basketball teams in several categories. As of Nov. 14, Minnesota is 41st in 3-pointers attempted per game (B1G: 1st), 35th in blocked shots per game (B1G: 6th), and 41st in 3-point field goal defense (B1G: 2nd). Payton Willis is 36th in the country in assist/turnover radio (4.5, B1G: 1st) and 17th in 3-pointers attempted (B1G: 1st) while Daniel Oturu is eighth in double doubles (B1G: 1st) and 14th in the country in blocks (B1G: 3rd) while 40th in field goal percentage (B1G: 1st).
• Oturu had one of the best nights of his career on Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, setting new career-bests in scoring (24 points), field goals (9) and 3-pointers made (2) and minutes played (38) while adding 10 rebounds for his 10th career double-double in the loss to Butler.
SCOUTING THE UTES
• Utah is 2-0 on the season and coming off one of the most dominant wins in NCAA history, defeating Mississippi Valley State 143-49 on Saturday night. The 94-point margin of victory set a new NCAA record in a matchup of two Division I foes.
• Two different Utes recorded triple-doubles in the game in Both Gach (12 pts/10 rbs/10 ast) and Rylan Jones (10 pts/10 rbs/11 ast).
• Utah won its opener at Nevada, 79-74.
• The Utes received 14 votes in this week's Associated Press Top-25 Poll, which would place them 34th in the country.
• Timmy Allen leads the Utes offense scoring 24.5 points per game thus far, while seven Utah players average double-figure scoring heading into Friday's game.
GOPHERS VS. THE PAC-12
• The Gophers have amassed a record of 43-27 (.614) against the current membership of the Pacific-12 Conference. MInnesota has faced every Pac-12 school at least once.
• Series records are as follows: Arizona (3-0), Arizona State (4-1), Cal (2-2), Colorado (2-0), Oregon (5-3), Oregon State (6-1), USC (4-2), Stanford (5-1), UCLA (1-5), Utah (2-2), Washington (8-9), Washington State (1-1).
• Prior to last season in which the Gophers played Utah and Washington, Minnesota had not faced a Pac-12 opponent since the 2012-13 season, when they faced Stanford and USC in the regular season and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
• For the first time in 16 days, the Gophers will return to Williams Arena to open a four-game homestand starting with Central Michigan on Thursday, Nov. 21.
• Tip off is set for 7 p.m., with BTN+ providing the web stream and KTLK 1130 AM/103.5 FM carrying the Gopher Radio Network broadcast in the Twin Cities.
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