Runnin' Utes Set to Face Golden Gophers in Minneapolis

Monday, November 12

Minneapolis, Minn.

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Minnesota

Runnin' Utes Set to Face Golden Gophers in Minneapolis

11/11/2018 9:12 AM | Men's Basketball

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Utes are on the road for first time this season

GAME 2: Utah (1-0) vs. Minnesota (1-0)

WHERE: Minneapolis, Minn. (Williams Arena)

WHEN: Monday, Nov. 12, 2018

TIP-OFF: 8 p.m. CT

TELEVISION: Big Ten Network / BTN (Cory Provus and Robbie Hummel)

RADIO: ESPN700 / Utah Radio Sports Network (Bill Riley and Jimmy Soto)

LIVE STATS: SideArm Stats

Utah Game Notes | Minnesota Game Notes

FAST BREAKS
• Utah will make its first road trip of the season this Monday, Nov. 12, taking on the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.
• This marks just the fourth-ever meeting between the Utes and Golden Gophers, but the first since 2003. It will be the first time Utah has faced Minnesota in Minneapolis.
• Utah will play in Minneapolis for just the second time in the school's history and first time since falling to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament back in 1996.
• The Runnin' Utes are coming off a 75-61 season-opening victory against Maine this past Thursday in Salt Lake City.
• Senior Sedrick Barefield led the Utes with 18 points and eight assists in the season-opener.
• Sophomore Donnie Tillman totaled 15 points and senior Parker Van Dyke chipped in with 11 points for the Utes. Senior Novak Topalovic pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds in the game.

THE GAME
Utah (1-0) will hit the road for the first time this season as it takes on Minnesota (1-0) this Monday, Nov. 12, in Minneapolis, Minn. The Utes and Golden Gophers are set to tip-off from Williams Arena at 8 p.m. CT.

COVERING THE RUNNIN' UTES
Monday's contest will air on the Utah Athletics Radio Network (ESPN 700 AM) with Bill Riley and Jimmy Soto announcing. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with Cory Provus calling the action and former Purdue star, Robbie Hummel, providing color commentary.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
The Golden Gophers opened its 2018-19 season with a home win over Nebraska-Omaha, 104-76, back on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Amir Coffey led the way with 18 points, while three other starters scored in double-figures (Dupree McBrayer, 17; Daniel Oturu, 14; Jordan Murphy, 12). Murphy led the team with 10 boards for a double-double in the game.

Minnesota went 15-17 overall in 2017-18, which included a 4-14 record in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers were 11-6 overall when playing inside Williams Arena. Murphy is Minnesota's leading returner in scoring, having averaged 16.8 points per game a season ago. He averaged a double-double on the year, also pulling down 11.3 boards per contest. Coffey, another top-returner for the Gophers, tallied 14.0 points in 2017-18, while playing in just 18 games.

In just one game so far this season, Minnesota as a team is shooting .629 from the field, .476 from three-point range and .696 from the charity stripe.

UTAH VS. MINNESOTA SERIES HISTORY
The Utes and Gophers will match-up for just fourth time since 1955, and the first time overall since 2003. Utah is 2-1 all-time and has won the previous two meetings. The Utes downed Minnesota, 66-54, back on Nov. 19, 2003, in Salt Lake City and also registered a 75-72 neutral-site win against the Gophers in Raleigh, N.C., back on Dec. 29, 1959. Minnesota won the initial meeting between the two teams, downing the Utes, 90-77, back on Dec. 21, 1955, in Lexington, Ky.

UTES IN MINNEAPOLIS
Monday's match-up against Minnesota will mark the first time the Utes and Gophers will square-off in Minneapolis. This will mark just the second time in school history that the Utes have played a game in Minneapolis, with the first-ever game coming back on March 21, 1996, when Utah faced Kentucky in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Utah fell to the Wildcats, giving Utah an overall record of 0-1 in games played in the city of Minneapolis.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah opened the 2018-19 season picking up a 75-61 win over Maine in both the season and home-opener for the Utes.

Senior Sedrick Barefield led the way with 18 points and dishing out a game-high eight assists, while sophomore Donnie Tillman added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Senior Parker Van Dyke chipped in with 11 points to give Utah three players to score in double figures.

Making their Utah debuts, Novak Topalovic (graduate transfer) scored nine points and pulled down double-digit rebounds with a game-high 10 boards. Incoming freshman Timmy Allen scored six points, tallied six boards and dished out six assists in his first game as a Ute.

Utah out-rebounded the Black Bears, 42-26, which included pulling down 10 offensive boards to Maine's five offensive rebounds. Utah would go onto outscore Maine, 13-3, in second-chance points in the contest.

UP NEXT
Utah will return home to wrap-up a span of playing three games in eight days when it hosts Mississippi Valley State this Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Huntsman Center. Tip-off from Salt Lake City is set for 6 p.m. and the contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.