Gophers Back at the Barn Saturday Against Maryland

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: BTN (Mike Hall - play by play, Shon Morris - color)
Tip Time: 8:07 p.m. CT
Radio: Learfield IMG: KFAN 100.3 FM
Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play), Spencer Tollackson (Color)
Sirius: 135 or 195 SXM App: 957

SERIES INFORMATION
16th Meeting (2-13 all time)
Record vs Maryland (Home): 1-6
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 785-893*
* - excludes vacated games

STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota men's basketball team is back at Williams Arena for a Saturday night tilt at 8 p.m. It's the first time Maryland has visited Williams Arena since 2021 when the Gophers fell, 63-49 on Jan. 23. Minnesota faced Maryland just once last season where the Gophers dropped an 84-73 contest in College Park, Md. In all, Minnesota has faced the Terrapins just 15 times in school history. The Gophers are 2-13 all-time and 2-9 since Maryland joined the Big Ten in 2014.
• Minnesota is coming off a 90-55 road loss to Rutgers (receiving votes) Wednesday night in Piscataway, N.J. Joshua Ola-Joseph led Minnesota with a career-high 17 points and added a career-high eight rebounds. Ta'Lon Cooper produced 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Minnesota was without the services of leading scorer Dawson Garcia or Braeden Carrington for the third and fifth straight game. Pharrel Payne made his second-career start in his young Gopher career.
• Joshua Ola-Joseph had a career-best night in the Rutgers game in both points (17) and rebounds (8). It's the seventh time Ola-Joseph has hit double-figures this season. He was 8-of-13 from the field, including a three-pointer. His previous best for points had been 13 versus Purdue on Jan. 19, and his best rebounding effort had been six at Michigan on Jan. 22.
• Jamison Battle finished with 13 points against Rutgers, his 77th career game reaching double-figures. Battle has now reached double-figures 40 times at Minnesota. In his one Gopher appearance against Maryland last season, Battle rattled off 39 points, a career high.
• Ta'Lon Cooper is closing in on another career milestone. The guard from Roebuck, S.C., is one point away from establishing his 1,000th career point. Sitting at 999 career points, Cooper had a three-year total of 773 points at Morehead State, while producing 226 so far this season with Minnesota. Cooper also established his 500th career assist mark earlier this year at Ohio State (Jan. 12).

ABOUT MARYLAND
• Maryland holds a 15-7 overall record and 6-5 within Big Ten play under Kevin Willard, who is in his first year at the helm of Terrapin men's basketball. Willard was previously at Seton Hall for 12 years. The Terps are riding a three-game win streak with wins over Wisconsin (W, 73-55), Nebraska (W, 82-63) and Indiana (W, 66-55) on Tuesday night, all at home.
• Jahmir Young leads the team averaging 16.1 points per game, 70 assists and 28 steals. He ranks ninth in league scoring. Donta Scott follows with 12.2 ppg and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game. Also averaging double-digit scoring is Hakim Hart (11.3 ppg) and Julian Reese (10.3).
• As a team, Maryland averages 70.7 ppg, while allowing 63.3. They are shooting 44.5 percent and 30.4 from beyond the arc. The Terps are also shooting 74 percent from the charity stripe and average 35 rebounds per game.

THE LAST TIME
• Jamison Battle led all scorers with a career-high 39 points, as the Minnesota Gophers fell to the Maryland Terrapins 84-73 in College Park, Md., March 2, 2022. The Terrapins were led in the scoring column by Hakim Hart, who finished with 19 on the night. Payton Willis added 21 points for Minnesota as well, coupling with Battle for 60 of the Gophers' 73 points.
• Although Minnesota fell in the contest, the night was a historic one for Battle, who set career-highs in points (39), FG made (14) and 3FG made (7). In all, the Robbinsdale, Minn. product made 14-31 field goals, including 7-16 from three-point range.

INJURIES FOR THE GOPHERS
• Minnesota freshman guard Braeden Carrington has suffered a right leg stress reaction and will be sidelined for approximately four weeks, announced Jan. 19. His status will be re-evaluated after that time. Carrington, one of the first off the bench, averages 22 minutes and 6.2 points in 14 games this season.
• Minnesota was without Dawson Garcia and Pharrel Payne against Indiana. Payne returned to the lineup against Northwestern, but Garcia remains day-to-day. Garcia started in 18 games and led the team in scoring.

ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota returns to road action for its third road game in four games when it travels to Illinois on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network at 7:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Jamison Battle

Braeden Carrington

Ta'Lon Cooper

Dawson Garcia

Joshua Ola-Joseph

Pharrel Payne

Payton Willis