Gophers Close Home Season Hosting Border Rival Wisconsin

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: FS1 (Alex Faust - play by play, Casey Jacobson - color)
Tip Time: 6:37 p.m. CT
Radio: Learfield IMG: KFAN 100.3 FM
Mike Grimm (Play-by-Play)
Sirius XM: 384 App: 974

SERIES INFORMATION
201st Meeting (98-102 all time)
Minnesota Home vs. Wisconsin: 64-37
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 786-899*
* - excludes vacated games

STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota men's basketball team closes out the 2022-23 regular season with a home game against Wisconsin Sunday. Minnesota is 98-102 all time against the Badgers, including a 64-37 mark at home. It marks just the second time in five years the Gophers have hosted the Badgers.
• Minnesota fell to Wisconsin, 63-60 on Jan. 3, in Madison, Wis. Ta'Lon Cooper led Minnesota with 16 points, Dawson Garcia just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jamison Battle added 13 points and nine boards. It was Minnesota's third Big Ten game this season and first of the 2023 calendar year.
• Minnesota returned to the win column on Thursday when the Gophers won, 75-74, at the buzzer over Rutgers. Jamison Battle led Minnesota with 20 points and made three three-pointers in the final minute, capped by his buzzer-beating game-winner. Minnesota trailed 70-60 with 1:15 remaining, and Minnesota's only lead of the game came on Battle's winning shot in front of the Gophers' bench. Dawson Garcia finished with 19 points and seven rebounds and Pharrel Payne had a double-double with 15 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. It was Minnesota's first home game since Feb. 18 versus Penn State.
• Battle hit a buzzer beater on Thursday. The last time the Gophers hit a last-second shot at Williams Arena dates back to Marcus Carr in 2020 with 2.7 seconds left to defeat Loyola Marymount, 67-64. Dawson Garcia helped defeat California Baptist in November off Minnesota's last shot with 6.8 seconds remaining in overtime. Prior to Thursday, its believed that the last true buzzer beater for the Gophers on Williams Arena court dates back to Nov. 30, 2002 when Minnesota defeated Georgia, 72-69 off a three-point buzzer beater from Michael Bauer.
• Some notables from the last Gopher contest vs Rutgers: Jamison Battle played in his 100th career collegiate game this evening. Dawson Garcia reached double-figures for the 20th time this season. Braeden Carrington finished with eight points and scored his 100th career point during the first half.

ABOUT WISCONSIN
• Wisconsin enters the Minnesota game with a 16-13 overall record and 8-11 in Big Ten play. The Badgers are coming off back-to-back losses at Michigan (87-79 in overtime) and home against Purdue (63-61) Thursday night.
• Chucky Hepburn leads the team in points (12.2), steals (44), assists (84) and minutes played (32.1). Connor Essegian follows right behind Hepburn averaging 12 points, while Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl average 11.3 and 11.0 points to close out the Badgers' double-figure scorers. Crowl leads the team averaging 7.1 rebounds, while Wahl also averages 6.2
• As a team, Wisconsin averages 65.0 points, while holding its opponents to 63.7 points a game. The Badgers are shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 35.7 from three. That three-point percentage ranks fourth overall in the conference. They average 31.2 rebounds and shoot 67 percent from the free throw line.

BATTLE RECEIVES ACADEMIC RECOGNITION
• Jamison Battle has been named to the 2022-23 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Men's Basketball Team. Recognizing the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at their current institution in order to be nominated.
• Battle is a sports management major and holds a 3.5 cumulative grade point average academically as a senior.

POSTPONEMENT/CANCELED GAMES
• The Minnesota men's basketball game originally scheduled for Feb. 7 at Illinois, was played on Monday, Feb. 20 in Champaign, Ill. The game was postponed due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the Golden Gopher program.
• Michigan State announced on Monday, Feb. 13 that the men's basketball game between Minnesota and Michigan State, which was to be contested on Wednesday, Feb 15 at Michigan State, was postponed because of the tragic shootings that took place on the Michigan State campus on Monday. On Monday, Feb. 27, the Big Ten announced that the game would not be rescheduled and declared a no contest. Minnesota and MSU will play 19 games during league action.

LAST TIME AT WILLIAMS
• Minnesota fell to Wisconsin 68-67 Feb. 23, 2022 the last time the Badgers visited Williams Arena. Wisconsin's Steven Crowl scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Tyler Wahl added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers.
• Jamison Battle had 17 points and Payton Willis and Eylijah Stephens each scored 13 points for the Gophers (13-13, 4-13), who faced their biggest deficit of the game at 59-51 before a pair of 3-pointers by Willis fueled an 8-0 spurt to tie it.

ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota opens Big Ten Tournament play on Wednesday, March 8 at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The contest will be the second game played and will be played 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 12/13 place game, approximately 8 p.m. Minnesota will play the No. 11 seed, which could be either Penn State, Wisconsin or Nebraska.
• Mike Grimm and Spencer Tollackson will also be on the radio call on KTLK 1130 AM, 103.5 FM.

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Players Mentioned

Jamison Battle

Braeden Carrington

Ta'Lon Cooper

Dawson Garcia

Pharrel Payne

Eylijah Stephens

Payton Willis