GOPHERS/WOLVERINES PREVIEW
Minnesota (12-6, 2-4) hits the road for the second straight game as they travel to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan (5-15, 1-7) at Crisler Arena. Minnesota is 2-4 on the road this season. The Thursday matchup is the first of two contests this year between the two schools. Michigan swept all three contests between the two schools a year ago, winning 82-80 at Crisler Arena, 62-51 in Minneapolis and 49-40 in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament at United Center in Chicago.
Michigan holds a 73-56 lead in the all-time series. Minnesota’s lone victory in their last five tries against the Wolverines came in a 59-55 triumph in the 2006 Big Ten Tournament.
The Wolverines are led by freshman guard Manny Harris, who is averaging 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 32.5 minutes per game. Sophomore forward DeShawn Sims pulls down a team-high 4.8 rebounds per game to go along with 13.3 points.
COACH SMITH NOTES
With the Gophers’ next win, head coach Tubby Smith will become a member of the 400 win club. Smith is 399-151 in 17 seasons as a head coach (79-43 at Tulsa, 45-19 at Georgia, 263-83 at Kentucky and 12-6 at Minnesota). Coming into the season, only 20 active coaches had amassed at least 400 career wins.
Tubby Smith has never coached against Michigan.
Minnesota has started 12-6 for the first time since 2004-05 when the Golden Gophers finished 21-11 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
SHARP SHOOTER
Freshman Blake Hoffarber not only leads the Big Ten Conference in three-point field accuracy at .473 (44-93), but is on pace to break several school records. He is ahead of the current school record for three-point field goal percentage (.469 by Travarus Bennett in 2001-02) and three-pointers made (78 by Lawrence McKenzie last season).
Hoffarber is already approaching the Gophers’ mark for three- pointers by a freshman, set by Voshon Lenard (51) in 1991-92.
THREE-POINTERS BY A GOPHER FRESHMAN
Player (Season) 3FGM
Voshon Lenard (1991-92) 51
Blake Hoffarber (2007-08) 44
Kevin Burleson (1999-00) 44
Michael Bauer (2000-01) 34
Quincy Lewis (1995-96) 26
DEFENSE-DEFENSE-DEFENSE
The Gophers defense was strong through the non-conference portion of the schedule and it has continued into the Big Ten schedule. Through 18 games, the Gophers have averaged 10.4 steals per game, tops in the conference, blocked 4.6 shots per game, fifth in the conference, have averaged 21.7 defensive rebounds per game while holding opponents to 62.9 points per game.
Individually, Gopher freshman Al Nolen leads the Gophers and the Big Ten is steals with 2.4 spg while sophomore Damian Johnson holds the team-lead in blocks, swatting 1.4 per game (tied-sixth in the conference).
BENCH BONANZA
Minnesota’s bench has provided a big punch this season, outscoring its opponents in 16 of the team’s 18 games. The Gophers hold a cumulative 510-284 bench scoring edge on its foes including a 30-1 advantage over Iowa State on Nov. 20, a 27-4 advantage over UC Riverside on Dec. 1, a 41-7 edge over North Dakota State on Dec. 3, a 44-27 margin against Colorado State, a 26-13 edge on Dec. 12 vs. South Dakota State, a 16-2 margin against Santa Clara on Dec. 22, a 33-10 edge against Nicholls State on Dec. 28, a 22-21 against Michigan State in the conference opener on Jan. 5 and a 31-14 edge over Northwestern on Jan. 9. The Gophers bench also outscored Penn State 29-8 on Jan. 12 and Ohio State 20-6 on Jan. 26.
A Gopher has scored at least six points off the bench in every game, led by Blake Hoffarber’s 21 points against Colorado State, 15 points against Northwestern on Jan. 9 and a 19-point effort against Penn State on Jan. 12. Hoffarber was also the leading bench scorer in all three Duel in the Desert games (Dec. 28-30) with 13, 10 and 13 points against Nicholls State, Kennesaw State and UNLV, respectively. Al Nolen scored seven off the bench against Michigan State while Damian Johnson and Kevin Payton both scored six points off the bench against Santa Clara on Dec. 22. Lawrence McKenzie scored 20 points off the bench against Iowa State; Johnson chipped in a career-high 12 points against Army; Hoffarber scored 12 off the bench against Florida State while Hoffarber and Johnson chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench against UC Riverside. Nolen had 15 to lead the Gophers against NDSU, while Johnson contributed 10 points against South Dakota State.
COLEMAN ON THE CHARTS
Senior Dan Coleman became just the 34th player in school history to record 1,000 career points, thanks to a 22-point effort in the Gophers 91-74 victory over Colorado State on Dec. 8. Coleman has added 164 points since and currently sits 22nd on the career points list with 1,173. Mychal Thompson (1974-78) sits atop the list with 1,992 career points.
Also, with 14 rebounds vs. Northwestern (1/9) Coleman become just the 17th Gopher player with 1,000 points and 500 boards in a career. Michael Bauer was the last Gopher to join the club, reaching the milestone in 2004. With two blocks against Michigan State, Coleman now has 93 career blocks, moving him into a tie for 10th with Quincy Lewis on Minnesota’s all-time list.
FRESHMAN FIRE
Minnesota has relied heavily on its two freshmen, Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber in the early part of the season.
Nolen is averaging 4.9 points, 3.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 21.9 minutes per game this season while shooting .423 (22-52) from the field. He has tied for or led the Gophers in assists in 11 of the 17 games he has played in, including a career-high seven Jan. 5 at Michigan State and seven again at Penn State on Jan. 1. He has recorded 40 steals (2.4 spg), which ranks him first overall in the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the Big Ten in assists at 3.9 per game and fifth in the conference with a 2.03 assist/turnover ratio.
Hoffarber is averaging 9.9 for the Gophers this season and is shooting .512 (63-123) from the floor, including a Big Ten Conference best .473 (44-93) from behind the arc. He scored a season-high 21 points, hitting 6-of-11 three pointers, off the bench Dec. 8 against Colorado State. Hoffarber also came off the bench to contribute 13 points Dec. 1 against UC Riverside, 10 points against North Dakota State on Dec. 3, nine points Dec. 12 against South Dakota State and 13, 10 and 13 points, respectively during the three-game Duel in the Desert after Christmas. He chipped in with five points off the bench in the Gophers conference opener Jan. 5 at Michigan State, scored 15 points in the Gophers conference home opener on Jan. 9 vs. Northwestern and 19 at Penn State on Jan. 12.
BIG CROWDS AT THE BARN
The Barn was packed to the limit on back-to-back occasions recently, Jan. 17 against Indiana and Jan. 20, its first sellouts since February 5, 2005 against Wisconsin. A sellout crowd of 14,625 jammed into Williams Arena. Minnesota is averaging 12,631 fans per game this season, the highest per game average since 1999-2000 when an average of 13,767 attended Gopher games.
STAT SHEET FILLER
Minnesota forward Damian Johnson has been filling up the stat sheet all season. The sophomore from Thibodaux, La. started the regular season with a bang, as he came off the bench to score 12 points, grab eight rebounds, block four shots while also stealing four balls, all career highs. He tied a career-high in points on Dec. 1 against UC Riverside while also grabbing seven rebounds, blocking three shots and stealing three balls. Johnson dished out a career-high five assists and tied a career-high with five steals against Ohio State on Jan. 26. He also contributed eight points and six rebounds.
Johnson is fifth on the team in scoring at 7.2 ppg, tied for second on the team in rebounding at 4.6 rpg, leads the team in blocks with 26 (1.4 bpg) and has the second most steals (35, 1.9 spg), which is third most in the conference. Over the last six games, all Big Ten Conference games, Johnson has averaged 7.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 1.7 assists and 24.7 minutes per game while shooting .516 (16-31) from the field.
Johnson helped limit Indiana’s Eric Gordon to 12 points on Jan. 17. Gordon managed just 3-for-8 shooting on the night. It was Gordon’s second lowest total this year, and lowest in Big Ten play. The three field goals were also tied for his second-lowest total of the season. He came into the Jan. 17 contest averaging 23.0 points per game. Johnson forced seven Gordon turnovers, while racking up five steals, three blocks and scored eight points.
