Gophers Ready for ACC/Big Ten Challenge

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: ESPNU (Jay Alter - Play-by-Play, Malcolm Huckaby - Analyst)
Tip Time: 6:01 p.m. CT
Radio: Learfield IMG College/ KTLK (AM-1130), FM 103.5
Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play); Spencer Tollackson (Analyst)
Sirius: XM 383

SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Fourth Meeting (Minnesota trails 1-2)
Last Meeting: Dec. 16, 1950 (Minnesota won, 72-43)
Minnesota vs. ACC: 36-40

STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota is set to compete in the 23rd-annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge this week when it travels to Pittsburgh Tuesday. ESPN Network is set to televise all 14 games and will also be streamed on the ESPN app. The Gophers are on the road for this challenge, the first time since the 2018-19 season. Minnesota has won the past two ACC/Big Ten Challenge contests and is 11-11 overall. This will be the first Big Ten/ACC meeting between Minnesota and Pitt and just the fourth contest overall in program history.
• The Gophers begin a tough stretch facing four Power 5 teams, including three on the road, within 11 days. Minnesota opens the stretch at Pitt Nov. 30 (ACC), then travels to Mississippi State Dec. 5 (SEC) and opens conference play at home against Michigan State Dec. 8 (Big Ten). The Gophers then finish out the 11-day stretch on the road at Michigan Dec. 11 (Big Ten).
• Sean Sutherlin has provided a spark off the bench for the Golden Gophers. He's now scored double-digit points in three-straight games. Sutherlin went 7-of-7 in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne and also added 10 points against Jacksonville when he was 5-of-6 field goals in a reserve role. He also recorded 19 points in the Princeton win. He ranks fourth on the team with 10.2 points per game.
• Minnesota currently ranks 10th nationally in defensive rebounds. The Golden Gophers have 157 defensive rebounds to average 31.4 per game. Through five games this year, four Gophers have over 20 defensive rebounds: Jamison Battle (30), Eric Curry (28), Payton Willis (24) and Sean Sutherlin (21). Minnesota also ranks second nationally in three-point field goal defense. The Gophers have allowed just 103 attempts and 22 opponent threes in five games. In addition, Minnesota ranks seventh nationally in fewest fouls (and first in the Big Ten.
• Jamison Battle is ranked fifth in Big Ten overall scoring. He averages 17.8 points per game, while Payton Willis ranks 10th in the league at 16.6. Battle and Willis are also tied for fifth in the Big Ten in three-pointers per game at 2.4. Willis and Eylijah Stephens both average 2.2 steals per game, which ties for second in the league. With the Gophers playing a short bench, Minnesota also has four of its five starters in the top five of minutes played. Battle leads the league averaging 37.6 minutes played.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• Pittsburgh enters the Minnesota game with a 2-4 record, including back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt (68-52) and UMBC (87-77) last week. Pitt fell to UMBC as the Retrievers scored 14 three-pointers in the win. The Panthers garnered wins this year over UNCW (59-51) and Towson (63-59) this year.
• Pitt went 10-12 overall last season and 6-10 in league action. The Panthers faced Northwestern in last year's ACC/Big Ten Challenge and won, 71-70 in Evanston, Ill.
• Head coach Jeff Capel is in his 13th year as a head coach with a previous four-year stint at VCU, followed by a five-year tenure at Oklahoma.
• John Hugley averages 14.3 points per game and also leads the team in rebound with 7.2. Femi Odukale is second with 13.2. Transfer Jamarius Burton, who sat out the beginning of the season due to injury has played in four games and is third at 8.5. Nike Sibande suffered an ACL tear right before the start of the season and will miss the year.

GOPHERS VS. THE ACC AND BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE
• Minnesota is 11-11 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Golden Gophers erased a 15-point deficit to win last year's game, in an 85-80 overtime victory against Boston College, Dec. 8, at Williams Arena. The Gophers won 78-60 over Clemson, also at the Barn, in 2019.
• The last time a Minnesota team played an ACC outside of the challenge dates back to March 21, 2019 during the NCAA Tournament when the Golden Gophers defeated Louisville, 86-76. The last time the Gophers played a regular season game against an ACC team outside the challenge was also Louisville in 2014 at the ESPN Armed Forces Classic in Puerto Rico. Minnesota lost that contest, 68-61 on Nov. 14, 2014.

UP NEXT
• Minnesota is on the road for its second-straight when it travels to Mississippi State, Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. Mike Grimm and Spencer Tollackson will provide the play-by-play and color on KTLK (AM-1130), FM 103.5. The game is also televised on ESPN's SEC Network.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jamison Battle

Eric Curry

Eylijah Stephens

Sean Sutherlin

Payton Willis