Men's Hoops Hosts the Golden Gophers Saturday
Feb 09 | Men's Basketball
| Rutgers vs. Minnesota | |
| Date | Saturday, February 11 |
| Time | 12 p.m. |
| Location | The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Video | ESPNU (Clay Matvick and Sean Harrington) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Sports Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM & WOR 710 AM |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Minnesota | Big Ten |
| RVision | Coach Pikiell Previews Minnesota |
| Media Guide | Rutgers |
Rutgers Interactive Game Notes
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - After playing 10 of its last 14 games away from the RAC, Rutgers (13-12, 2-10) returns home to host Minnesota (17-7, 5-6) in a 12 noon tip-off on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights will be working to return to the win column and improve to 10-3 at the RAC. The Gophers, who held a national ranking (No. 24) last month, will be looking for their third consecutive win. Six of RU's last nine games have been decided by single digits or in overtime. Last season, 15 of the Scarlet Knights' 17 conference losses were by double digits.
Saturday is Taylor Ham® vs. Pork Roll day. Fans will help settle the long-standing Garden State debate by selecting a corresponding t-shirt upon entry. A social media vote between the two positions will take place via the @RUAthletics Twitter handle and one lucky fan will receive eight pounds of the product during the "Minute of Madness."
Rutgers is third nationally in offensive rebounds-per-game (15.16), fifth in rebounds (42.0), 19th in rebound margin (+7.2), 23rd in blocks (5.3) and 24th field goal percentage defense (39.8). Minnesota is second in blocks (6.8), 14th in defensive rebounds (28.5), 17th in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.5), 20th in field goal percentage defense (39.4) and 25th in rebounds (39.75).
The Golden Gophers are the fifth Rutgers' opponent with a color in their nickname this season, following the DePaul Blue Demons, Niagara Purple Eagles, North Texas Mean Green and CCSU Blue Devils.
Saturday afternoon's game will be televised on ESPNU, with Clay Matvick calling the action and Sean Harington providing the analysis. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York & WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick, as well as on Sirius 135 and XM 195. Jerry Recco will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7 FM) will also broadcast the game.
The game will mark the seventh meeting on the collegiate hardwood between Rutgers and Minnesota dating back to 1973, with the Gophers holding a 5-1 advantage. The lone meeting at the RAC was last season's regular season finale, with Rutgers downing the Gophers 75-52 in a battle of depleted rosters. Mike Williams scored a career-high 29 points on 7-of-12 shooting, helped by a career-best six three pointers. The Scarlet Knights led by as many as 33 points and limited the Gophers to 30.1 percent (22-of-73) shooting. In the first meeting, the Scarlet Knights suffered a 68-59 loss to No.10-ranked Minnesota at Madison Square Garden in the NIT on March 19, 1973.
Rutgers overcame a 12-point second half deficit to tie the game with 79 seconds remaining, but was unable to complete the upset in a 70-64 loss at Ohio State Wednesday evening. Corey Sanders led the Scarlet Knights with 17 points and Deshawn Freeman had his 10th double-double of the season, posting 10 points and 10 rebounds. Williams (11 points) and Issa Thiam (10 points) also scored in double figures, but RU struggled at the charity stripe, making 10-of-18. The Buckeyes, conversely, deposited 19-of-25 free throw attempts, including their final four with less than 30 seconds remaining.
Minnesota, under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Richard Pitino, earned a 101-89 home victory over Iowa in double overtime on Wednesday. Jordan Murphy scored a career-high 25 points with 19 rebounds, while Nate Mason added 25 points and seven assists, in the Gophers' fourth overtime contest in Big Ten play this season. Five players have scoring averages in double figures, including Mason with a team-best 14.4. Six first-year players highlight the UM roster, including a trio of starters in graduate transfer Akeem Springs, junior transfer Reggie Lynch and freshman Amir Coffey.
