University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, February 4
Piscataway, N.J.
8:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Rutgers
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Kelly Hagenson
Game 18: Minnesota at Rutgers
2/1/2021 10:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Gophers start four-game stretch in 11 days against the Scarlet Knights
SERIES INFORMATION
13th Meeting (8-4 all-time record)
At Rutgers: 1-3 // Current Streak: L-2
Richard Pitino vs. Rutgers: 6-4
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 778-859*
Pitino vs. Big Ten regular season games: 52-88
Pitino vs. Big Ten (includes postseason games): 58-95Â
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
1. Minnesota heads to Rutgers for its sixth road game of the season on Thursday. The teams have met twelve times previously (Gophers lead 8-4), which makes Rutgers the Big Ten team that Minnesota has played the least. The two teams met in 1973 and 1979 and have also played 10 games since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.Â
2. Minnesota just played four games in 21 days and played only six games in January (fewest since U played six January games in 1972-73 season under Bill Musselman). Starting Thursday, Minnesota (fingers crossed) will play four games in the next 11 days, five games in the next 14 days and six games in the next 17 days. Earlier this year, Minnesota had stretches of six games in 16 days and six games in 18 days. The Gophers are scheduled to play seven games in February, which would be their second busiest month of the season. To dates, Minnesota's busiest months this season have been December (8 games), January (6 games) and November (3 games). Minnesota is scheduled to play two regular-season games in March. Â
3. Liam Robbins, who is a top-10 candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, had a season-high six blocks at Purdue. The 7-0 center averages 2.82 blocks per game, which leads the Big Ten and ranks 12th in the nation. He is the first Gopher to total more than five blocks in one game since Daniel Oturu had five against Northwestern on Jan. 5, 2020. Robbins has 48 blocks this season and needs 19 more to crack the top 10 in school single-season history (Damian Johnson is currently tenth after recording 67 blocks in 2009-10). Robbins' average of 2.82 blocks per game currently places him sixth in the school single-season record books, just behind Randy Breuer (3.0 bpg in 1982-83) and ahead of Kevin McHale (2.6 bpg in 1979-80) and Breuer (2.6 bpg in 1981-82).Â
4. Minnesota made 10 three-pointers at Purdue, which is tied for the second-most that the Gophers have made this year. The most Minnesota has made this season is 17, which it did in an overtime win at home against Iowa on Christmas. The Purdue game was the third time that Minnesota has made 10 three-pointers this year. It also did so against St. Louis and at Iowa. The school record for most threes in one game is 18 and was set against Nebraska on March 8, 2020.Â
5. Gabe Kalscheur made two three-point attempts at Purdue and has now made 173 threes in his Gopher career, which ties him with Sam Jacobson (1995-98) for sixth-most all-time. The junior from Edina, Minn. has attempted 498 threes, which ranks sixth in school history. Â
You can read Minnesota's complete game notes here.Â
13th Meeting (8-4 all-time record)
At Rutgers: 1-3 // Current Streak: L-2
Richard Pitino vs. Rutgers: 6-4
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 778-859*
Pitino vs. Big Ten regular season games: 52-88
Pitino vs. Big Ten (includes postseason games): 58-95Â
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
1. Minnesota heads to Rutgers for its sixth road game of the season on Thursday. The teams have met twelve times previously (Gophers lead 8-4), which makes Rutgers the Big Ten team that Minnesota has played the least. The two teams met in 1973 and 1979 and have also played 10 games since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.Â
2. Minnesota just played four games in 21 days and played only six games in January (fewest since U played six January games in 1972-73 season under Bill Musselman). Starting Thursday, Minnesota (fingers crossed) will play four games in the next 11 days, five games in the next 14 days and six games in the next 17 days. Earlier this year, Minnesota had stretches of six games in 16 days and six games in 18 days. The Gophers are scheduled to play seven games in February, which would be their second busiest month of the season. To dates, Minnesota's busiest months this season have been December (8 games), January (6 games) and November (3 games). Minnesota is scheduled to play two regular-season games in March. Â
3. Liam Robbins, who is a top-10 candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, had a season-high six blocks at Purdue. The 7-0 center averages 2.82 blocks per game, which leads the Big Ten and ranks 12th in the nation. He is the first Gopher to total more than five blocks in one game since Daniel Oturu had five against Northwestern on Jan. 5, 2020. Robbins has 48 blocks this season and needs 19 more to crack the top 10 in school single-season history (Damian Johnson is currently tenth after recording 67 blocks in 2009-10). Robbins' average of 2.82 blocks per game currently places him sixth in the school single-season record books, just behind Randy Breuer (3.0 bpg in 1982-83) and ahead of Kevin McHale (2.6 bpg in 1979-80) and Breuer (2.6 bpg in 1981-82).Â
4. Minnesota made 10 three-pointers at Purdue, which is tied for the second-most that the Gophers have made this year. The most Minnesota has made this season is 17, which it did in an overtime win at home against Iowa on Christmas. The Purdue game was the third time that Minnesota has made 10 three-pointers this year. It also did so against St. Louis and at Iowa. The school record for most threes in one game is 18 and was set against Nebraska on March 8, 2020.Â
5. Gabe Kalscheur made two three-point attempts at Purdue and has now made 173 threes in his Gopher career, which ties him with Sam Jacobson (1995-98) for sixth-most all-time. The junior from Edina, Minn. has attempted 498 threes, which ranks sixth in school history. Â
You can read Minnesota's complete game notes here.Â
Cade Tyson's 38 Point Performance
Tuesday, December 16
Highlights: Gophers 89, TX Southern 53
Sunday, December 14
Highlights: Gophers 57, Purdue 85
Wednesday, December 10
Gopher Round Table: Men's Basketball
Wednesday, December 10