Gopher Men's Basketball

The Gopher men's basketball team continued their slide Wednesday night falling 68-57 at Northwestern. Minnesota led by 6 at halftime and by as many as 10 points in the 2nd half before they imploded. Northwestern made 7-15 from 3-point range in the 2nd half to pull away. Trevor Mbakwe led the Gophers with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Maverick Ahanmisi added 7 points in 32 minutes making his first college start.

The Gopher men's basketball team lost 53-48 Tuesday night to Michigan State in what seemed to be a must-win game for both teams if they wanted to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Minnesota led by 7 with 3 minutes left but were outscored 14-1 in the final 3 minutes by the Spartans. Trevor Mbakwe led the Gophers with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Chip Armelin added 12 points for Minnesota.

The Gopher men's basketball team lost 66-63 at Penn State Thursday night to fall to 6-8 in the Big Ten and 17-9 overall. Minnesota trailed by 1 at halftime and by as many as 10 points in the 2nd half before taking a 3-point lead with 2:00 left. Talor Battle hit a key 3-point basket to give Penn State a 62-60 lead and they never trailed again. Battle had 28 points for the Nittany Lions.

The 25th ranked Gopher men's basketball team won 62-45 at Iowa Sunday night to end a 4-game losing streak. Trevor Mbakwe led the Gophers with 24 points and 5 rebounds and Rodney Williams added 13 points. Mbakwe scored 22 of his 24 points in the 2nd half and Williams scored 11 of his 13 points in the 1st half.

The 25th ranked Gophers men's basketball team lost at home to Illinois 71-62 Thursday night. Minnesota has lost 4 straight games for the first time since Tubby Smith has been the head coach of the Gophers. Trevor Mbakwe led the Gophers with 17 points and 16 rebounds and Ralph Sampson III added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota.

The 25th ranked Gopher men's basketball team looks to end a 3-game losing streak when they host Illinois at 8pm tonight, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 7:30. Minnesota is 16-7 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten.

The Gopher men's basketball team is expected to have guard Blake Hoffarber available to them when they host Illinois Thursday night. Head coach Tubby Smith says Hoffarber is expected to be okay despite suffering a knee injury Sunday against Ohio State. He wore a brace on his left knee in the 2nd half of Sunday's loss against the Buckeyes. Hoffarber leads the team in scoring averaging more than 14 points a game.

The top ranked Ohio State men's basketball team defeated the 20th ranked Gophers 82-69 at Williams Arena Sunday afternoon. Minnesota trailed by 8 at halftime and fell behind by double figures early in the 2nd half. David Lighty led the Buckeyes with 19 points. Blake Hoffarber led Minnesota with 16 points and both Ralph Sampson III and Chip Armelin had 14 points.

The 18th ranked Gopher men's basketball team will play at Indiana tonight at 5:30, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 5:00. Minnesota arrived in Indianapolis yesterday but still needed to drive 50 minutes to Bloomington, Indiana. Winter weather is making that tough but the game is expected to go on as scheduled.

The 16th ranked Gopher men's basketball team defeated Northwestern 81-70 Wednesday night to improve to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. The win is the 4th straight for the Gophers. Minnesota played without point guard Al Nolen, who is out with a broken bone in his foot. He had surgery Wednesday and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks.