GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m. CT
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Arena: Williams Arena (14,625)
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Minnesota leads, 51-16
Series (Home): Minnesota leads, 36-7
Current Streak: L-1
Richard Pitino vs. Nebraska: 2-4
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 749-816*
Richard Pitino vs. Big Ten: 32-54
* – excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team returns home for the first time in two weeks, and just the third time in a month, as the Gophers play host to Nebraska on Tuesday night.
• Tuesday’s game marks the celebration of the Barn Turns 90, as Williams Arena marked 90 years as the home of Gopher Basketball recently. The first game at the historic arena, which is the fifth-oldest among NCAA Division I home courts, was on February 4, 1928, a 42-40 double-overtime loss to Ohio State.
• Steadily climbing up the career charts, junior Jordan Murphy recently crossed the 1,000-point mark and entered Minnesota top-10 list for rebounds. Murphy has pulled down 841 boards in his nearly three years as a Gopher, tying Mel Northway for fifth place. Murphy is leading the team averaging 17.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game – the latter statistic atop the Big Ten and fifth in the nation as well. He also ranks third in the country in offensive rebounds (4.4) per game, as of Feb. 5. Murphy leads the country with 20 double-doubles – the second most in Gophers single-season history and just one shy of Mychal Thompson’s record of 21, set in the 1975-76 season.
• Both Murphy and senior Nate Mason are also moving up the career scoring charts. Mason has moved into eighth place with 1,591 points (7th: Quincy Lewis – 1,614) while Murphy ranks 28th, scoring 1,181 points (27th: Darryl Mitchell – 1,182).
• Nate Mason ranks 16th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten in assist/turnover ratio at 3.12. He is also the conference’s 10th-leading scorer at 15.7 points per game.
SCOUTING THE CORNHUSKERS
• Nebraska is coming off a eight-day break having won its last three contests, including a 74-63 victory at Wisconsin on Mon., Jan. 29.
• The Cornhuskers are seeking their first victory at Williams Arena as a member of the Big Ten. Their last win at the Barn came in a non-conference bout, 77-60, on Dec. 29, 2003.
• James Palmer Jr. leads a trio of double-digit scorers averaging 17.6 points per game, third among Big Ten players.
• Nebraska is receiving four votes in the Associated Press poll this week.
WASHINGTON NAMED B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• After a week in which he set new career scoring highs in back-to-back games, Guard Isaiah Washington was tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Feb. 5.
• It is the first weekly award for the Harlem, N.Y., native and the first for the Gophers since junior Jordan Murphy was named Player of the Week in three consecutive weeks in November.
• Washington averaged 20.5 points per game at Iowa and Michigan. In Iowa City, Washington scored 15 points along with seven assists, one rebound and a steal in 25 minutes of action. Four days later, the 6-1 guard exploded for a game-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting (68.8 percent), adding six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes of play.
• His scoring total against the Wolverines marked the most by a Big Ten freshman in a conference game this season, and the second-highest by a newcomer in any game this year (Geo Baker – Rutgers, 29 pts. vs. Bryant).
• Washington’s scoring in Ann Arbor was the most in a single game by a Gopher freshman since Amir Coffey had 30 points against St. John’s on Nov. 18, 2016.
(photo and info courtesy of Gopher Sports)