Gophers Go For 6th Straight Win

(Minneapolis, MN) - The Golden Gophers are back in action tonight in men's college basketball, as they host Seattle at Williams Arena.

Minnesota has won five straight following its 85-57 rout of Southern last Wednesday.  The Gophers are 8-2 on the season. Seattle is 5-5.

Minnesota leads the nation in assists per game and head coach Richard Pitino says part of the reason why is the improved floor game of senior point guard DeAndre Mathieu, who has cut down on turnovers and is making better passing decisions this year.  Tonight's tipoff is 7 p.m. at The Barn.

KROC AM will have coverage of the game, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:30.

GAME DAY TID-BITS

• Minnesota returns to action following final exams, hosting Seattle University on Friday night.

• The Gophers have won five straight games, the last four by double-digits including a 28-point win over Southern on Monday.

• Seattle is coming off a 84-55 win over Northwest University on Monday night.

• The Gophers have earned back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Week awards: Andre Hollins (12/8) and Maurice Walker (12/15).

• The Gophers have now scored 80+ points for the fourth straight game. Minnesota last accomplished the feat in December 2009, a stretch of five straight 80+ point games.

• As of Dec. 17,  the Gophers lead the nation in assists per game (19.7) and are third in steals per game (11.7) and turnover margin (+6.7). Minnesota leads the Big Ten Conference in all three of those categories, and is third in scoring margin (+17.3) and fourth in 3-point shooting (.419) .

• Senior DeAndre Mathieu is second in assists (59, 5.9 apg), third in assist/turnover radtio (3.7) and fifth in steals (21, 2.1 spg). Junior Carlos Morris is second in steals (26, 2.6 spg) among B1G players, while senior Maurice Walker is fifth in field goal shooting (.635). Senior Andre Hollins ranks fourth in 3-point shooting (.509) and 15th in scoring (14.6 ppg).

• DeAndre Mathieu posted his first career double-double against North Dakota with 15 points and a career-high 10 assists. He is the first Gopher with double-digit assists since Damian Johnson (10) on Mar. 7, 2010 vs. Iowa. Notable among his performance was Mathieu’s zero turnovers, the first time in his career he has recorded five or more assists and no turnovers. 

• The Gophers are 8-2 on the season, reaching that mark in back-to-back years under second-year head coach Richard Pitino, who earned his 50th career victory on Monday against North Dakota.