Gophers Hit The Road to Face the Cornhuskers

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Broadcast: BTN (Kevin Kugler, pbp), Jess Settles (color)
Tip Time: 5:31 p.m.
Radio: Radio: KFAN 100.3 FM (Mike Grimm, Al Nolen)
Sirius: SiriusXM 372 and on the SiriusXM App

SERIES INFORMATION*
81st Meeting (56-24 all time)
Minnesota Road Record at Nebraska: 15-15
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 795-907
* - excludes vacated games

STARTING FIVE
• The Minnesota men's basketball team hits the road when it travels to Nebraska on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. It marks the second meeting between the two teams this season and the first since Dec. 6. Minnesota is 15-15 on Nebraska's home court and looking for its first win at Nebraska since 2012. Since the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference in 2011-12, Minnesota holds a 10-11 record all-time against the Cornhuskers as a league opponent. The Gophers have back-to-back wins against the Huskers, dating back to last year's win against them in the Big Ten Tournament.
• This time last year, Minnesota was 1-13 in conference play and 7-18 overall, with five remaining in the regular season. The Gophers are 8-7 this year with five games remaining and 17-9 overall. That improvement marks the best in the Big Ten and one of the best nationally among Power 6 teams. South Carolina went from 11 wins to 21 this year, while Cal went from 3-29 (2-18 in PAC-12) to 12-15 and 8-8 in conference play.
• The Gophers have shot 50 percent from the field in the last two games. That's nine times this year the Gophers have shot over 50 percent in a game and the third time in Big Ten play. Minnesota's best Big Ten FG display came at Penn State, where Minnesota scored 28 field goals in 52 attempts for 53.8 percent. Minnesota has also scored over 80 points in back-to-back games, the ninth and 10th time this season. Minnesota was held to under 80 points all last year.
• Elijah Hawkins is eight points away from his 1,000 career point. Scoring a career-high 24 points in the Ohio State win, Hawkins now sits at 992 career points. As a Gopher, Hawkins has 228 points. With Howard, Hawkins had 764 points. Hawkins is also closing in on Minnesota's single-season assist record. He's on pace to break Marcus Carr's 207 assists he established in 2019-20.
• In Minnesota's past two wins, Dawson Garcia and Pharrel Payne have scored an average of 18 points each and combined 32 rebounds. In those two wins, Payne scored 13 field goals in 19 attempts, while Garcia scored 12 of 25, including two from the three-point range. Both also have three blocks apiece.

LAST GAME RECAP
• Elijah Hawkins scored a career-high 24 points and led Minnesota with seven assists, Dawson Garcia had 22 points and a team-high nine rebounds, and Pharrel Payne had 15 points as the Gophers recorded an 88-79 win over Ohio State at Williams Arena.
• Minnesota opened the game 7-of-7 from the field, including three-pointers by Mike Mitchell Jr. (2), Garcia, and Hawkins to establish a 19-9 lead and never looked back. The Gophers led by as many as 17 in the second half. The Gophers never trailed from the opening tip en route to their 17th win of the season. The Gophers shot 50 percent from the field by making 28 of 56 attempts, including 8 of 19 (.421) from a three-point range, and they were 24-of-31 (.774) at the free-throw line.

THE LAST MEETING
• Elijah Hawkins scored 12 points with 1 assists, and Minnesota overcame a 15-point halftime deficit and the loss of leading scorer Dawson Garcia to beat Nebraska 76-65 on Dec. 6. Garcia turned an ankle a couple of minutes into the game and was sidelined a majority of the game.
• Joshua Ola-Joseph scored 15 points, Braeden Carrington 13 and Mike Mitchell Jr. and Pharrel Payne had 12 apiece for Minnesota, which outscored Nebraska 52-26 in the second half.

ABOUT NEBRASKA
• Nebraska is 19-8 this season and 9-7 in Big Ten action. The Cornhuskers are coming off a dominating road win over Indiana, 85-70, Wednesday night. The Huskers are riding a three-game win streak into Sunday's game with home victories over Michigan and Penn State and at Assembly Hall. It was the Huskers' first Big Ten road win this season. The Huskers hold a 16-1 record at Pinnacle Bank this season, including an undefeated mark in B1G play.
• Keisei Tominga leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.4 points, including 19.6 in the past five games. Rienk Mast ranks second, averaging 13 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds, while Brice Williams and Juwan Gary round out the double-digit scorers at 12.8 and 11.6, respectively.
• As a team, Nebraska averages 77.3 points and allows 70. The Huskers are shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 36.3 from beyond the arc. The Huskers are 75.7 percent from the charity stripe and average 37.9 rebounds per game.

ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota is on the road for the second-straight game when it travels to No. 12 Illinois Feb. 28. Wednesday's game is at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
• Mike Grimm and Al Nolen will provide the radio broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM.

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Players Mentioned

Braeden Carrington

Dawson Garcia

Elijah Hawkins

Mike Mitchell Jr.

Joshua Ola-Joseph

Pharrel Payne