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2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
NCAA tournament first round vs. Texas, L 76–62
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	22–11 (9–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Tubby Smith;
Assistant coaches	Ron Jirsa; Saul Smith; Vince Taylor;
Home arena	Williams Arena
	Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Michigan State	15	–	3	.833	31	–	7	.816
No. 17 Purdue†	11	–	7	.611	27	–	10	.730
Illinois	11	–	7	.611	24	–	10	.706
Penn State	10	–	8	.556	27	–	11	.711
Ohio State	10	–	8	.556	22	–	11	.667
Wisconsin	10	–	8	.556	20	–	13	.606
Minnesota	9	–	9	.500	22	–	11	.667
Michigan	9	–	9	.500	21	–	14	.600
Northwestern	8	–	10	.444	17	–	14	.548
Iowa	5	–	13	.278	15	–	17	.469
Indiana	1	–	17	.056	6	–	25	.194

† 2009 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the college basketball season of 2008–2009. The team's head coach was Tubby Smith. This was Smith's second year as Minnesota's head coach. The Golden Gophers played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Big Ten Network included the team in a two-and-a-half-hour special that featured Midnight Madness events from several Big Ten campuses on October 17, 2008; the Minnesota event to kick off the season was called "Tubby's Tipoff".^[1] The Gophers started the season on a twelve-game winning streak for the first time since the 1948–49 season.^[2] The team became ranked on December 22, the first time the team had been ranked since the 2002–03 season.^[3]

Recruit Royce White signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but did not play due to shoplifting and trespassing charges. He transferred to Iowa State in July 2010.^[4]

Roster

#	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Position	Class	Hometown	Previous Team(s)
0	Al Nolen	6'1"	180	G	So.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Minneapolis Henry HS
1	Paul Carter	6'8"	195	F	So.	Little Rock, AR, U.S.	Little Rock Mills HS Missouri State-West Plains
3	Kevin Payton	6'5"	215	G/F	RJr.	Camden, NJ, U.S.	Camden HS
4	Travis Busch	6'4"	220	G/F	Jr.	Mounds View, MN, U.S.	Mounds View HS
5	Devoe Joseph	6'3"	170	G	Fr.	Ajax, ON, Canada	Pickering HS
11	Jonathan Williams	6'9"	250	G	Sr.	St. Cloud, MN, U.S.	Notre Dame Prep St. Cloud Apollo HS
20	Lawrence Westbrook	6'0"	195	G	Jr.	Chandler, AZ, U.S.	Winchendon Prep
22	Devron Bostick	6'5"	210	G	Jr.	Racine, WI, U.S.	St. Catharine's HS SW Illinois
24	Blake Hoffarber	6'4"	200	G	So.	Minnetonka, MN, U.S.	Hopkins HS
33	Jamal Abu-Shamala	6'5"	210	G/F	Sr.	Shakopee, MN, U.S.	Shakopee HS
34	Damian Johnson	6'7"	195	F	RJr.	Thibodaux, LA, U.S.	Thibodaux HS
45	Colton Iverson	6'10"	235	F/C	Fr.	Yankton, SD, U.S.	Yankton HS
50	Ralph Sampson III	6'11"	220	F/C	Fr.	Duluth, GA, U.S.	Northview HS

Incoming signees

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ralph Sampson III C	Duluth, Georgia	Northview HS	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Oct 25, 2007
Ralph Sampson III C	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89
Devoe Joseph SG	Ajax, Ontario	Picking HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Nov 21, 2007
Devoe Joseph SG	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76
Colton Iverson PF/C	Yankton, South Dakota	Yankton HS	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Sep 19, 2007
Colton Iverson PF/C	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88
Paul Carter F	West Plains, Missouri	Missouri State – West Plains	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Aug 21, 2007
Paul Carter F	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: n/a
Devron Bostick SF	Belleville, Illinois	Southwestern Illinois	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	Oct 11, 2007
Devron Bostick SF	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: n/a
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 27 Rivals: 23
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Minnesota Commit List for 2008". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "ESPN – Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball Recruiting 2008". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008.

2008–09 Schedule and Results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 3, 2008* 7:00 pm		St. Cloud State	W 88–80		Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 6, 2008* 7:00 pm		Northern State	W 92–62		Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Regular Season
November 14, 2008* 7:00 pm		Concordia, St. Paul NABC Classic	W 76–51	1–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 15, 2008* 7:00 pm		Bowling Green NABC Classic	W 68–61	2–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 16, 2008* 7:00		Georgia State NABC Classic	W 60–52	3–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 22, 2008* 9:00, The Mtn.		at Colorado State	W 72–71	4–0	Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO
November 26, 2008* 7:30, BTN		Eastern Washington	W 88–67	5–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 29, 2008* 1:00, BTN		North Dakota State	W 90–76	6–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 2, 2008* 8:30, ESPN2		Virginia ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 66–56	7–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 6, 2008* 1:00		Cornell	W 71–54	8–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 10, 2008* 8:00, BTN		South Dakota State	W 74–60	9–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 20, 2008* 1:00, FSN North		vs. No. 9 Louisville Stadium Shootout	W 70–64	10–0	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ
December 23, 2008* 8:00, ESPNU	No. 23	Southeastern Louisiana	W 80–71	11–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 28, 2008* 7:00, ESPNU	No. 23	High Point	W 82–56	12–0	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten Regular Season
December 31, 2008 11:00am^[5], BTN	No. 21	No. 10 Michigan State	L 58–70	12–1 (0–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 3, 2009 11:00am, BTN	No. 21	No. 24 Ohio State	W 68–59	13–1 (1–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 8, 2009 6:00, ESPN2	No. 22	at Iowa	W 52–49	14–1 (2–1)	Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
January 11, 2009 2:30, BTN	No. 22	Penn State	W 79–59	15–1 (3–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 15, 2009 8:00, BTN	No. 18	at Wisconsin	W 78–74 ^(OT)	16–1 (4–1)	Kohl Center Madison, WI
January 18, 2009 1:00, BTN	No. 18	at Northwestern	L 65–74	16–2 (4–2)	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
January 22, 2009 6:00, ESPN2	No. 21	No. 18 Purdue	L 62–70	16–3 (4–3)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 25, 2009 11:00am, BTN	No. 21	at Indiana	W 67–63	17–3 (5–3)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
January 29, 2009 8:00, BTN		No. 19 Illinois	W 59–36	18–3 (6–3)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 4, 2009 7:30, BTN	No. 19	at No. 13 Michigan State	L 47–76	18–4 (6–4)	Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
February 7, 2009 7:00, BTN	No. 19	at Ohio State	L 58–64	18–5 (6–5)	Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH
February 10, 2009 8:00, BTN		Indiana	W 62–54	19–5 (7–5)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 14, 2009 12:30, BTN		at Penn State	L 63–68	19–6 (7–6)	Bryce Jordan Center State College, PA
February 19, 2009 6:00, BTN		at Michigan	W 74–62	19–7 (7–7)	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
February 22, 2009 6:00, BTN		Northwestern	W 72–45	20–7 (8–7)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 26, 2009 6:00, BTN		at No. 20 Illinois	L 41–52	20–8 (8–8)	Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
March 4, 2009 7:30, BTN		Wisconsin	W 51–46	21–8 (9–8)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
March 7, 2009 11:00am, ESPN		Michigan	L 64–67	21–9 (9–9)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
2009 Big Ten tournament
March 12, 2009* 11:00am, BTN	(8)	vs. (9) Northwestern First Round	W 66–53	22–9	Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
March 13, 2009* 11:00am, ESPN	(8)	vs. (1) No. 7 Michigan State Quarterfinal	L 56–64	22–10	Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
2009 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament
March 19, 2009* 6:10, CBS	(10 E)	vs. (7 E) Texas First Round	L 62–76	22–11	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Final
AP							23	21	22	18	21	NR	19	NR
Coaches							23	21	19	17	20	24	19	NR

References

^ Pucin, Diane (October 17, 2008). "No 'Midnight Madness' for UCLA, USC basketball teams". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
^ "Gophers Finish Non-Conference Slate Undefeated". December 28, 2008. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
^ "Gophers Enter Poll For First Time Since 2002 - Gophersports.com Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics". Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
^ "Minnesota standout Royce White signs with Iowa St". Associated Press. CBS Sports. July 12, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
^ "Gophers/Spartans Tip on Dec. 31 Changed to 11 a.m. - Gophersports.com Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics". Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008.

[NMMfUUbt-1] Pucin, Diane (October 17, 2008). "No 'Midnight Madness' for UCLA, USC basketball teams". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2008.

[winstreak-2] "Gophers Finish Non-Conference Slate Undefeated". December 28, 2008. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2008.

[3] "Gophers Enter Poll For First Time Since 2002 - Gophersports.com Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics". Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.

[4] "Minnesota standout Royce White signs with Iowa St". Associated Press. CBS Sports. July 12, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.

[MSUchange-5] "Gophers/Spartans Tip on Dec. 31 Changed to 11 a.m. - Gophersports.com Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics". Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008.

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