New Look Gophers Open Season with Exhibition Wins
November 2008

New faces dominated the lineup as the Minnesota Gophers, under second-year coach Tubby Smith, opened their season with exhibition wins against St. Cloud State and Northern State of Aberdeen, South Dakota.

On Monday, November 3, the Gophers beat the St. Cloud Huskies 88-80 with freshmen Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson, along with transfer Paul Carter in the starting lineup. Sampson—whose dad, Ralph, a former University of Virginia great and National Basketball Association All-Star, sitting a few rows behind the Gophers’ bench—had two points and five rebounds. Iverson, a 6-10 forward from Yankton, South Dakota, had seven points with three rebounds. Carter, from Little Rock, Arkansas, came to the Gophers from Missouri State, West Plains, had six points and six rebounds. The other two starters, the backcourt of Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen, had 15 and 18 points, respectively, while Nolen also had seven rebounds and three assists.

The Gophers were 31 of 59 from the floor for a .552 field-goal percentage while making six of 13 three-pointers. Less impressive was their 61 percent free-throw shooting. The game was tied 49-49 at the half, and the Huskies briefly took a 52-49 lead as Brett Carmichael, a senior from Elk River, Minnesota, hit a three-pointer to start the second half. “In the second half, we loosened up and played more like a team,” said Travis Busch, who scored 13 points for the Gophers. Minnesota’s largest lead was 16 points (77-71 and 79-73), but the Huskies came back and, thanks to a basket by Brett Putz at the buzzer, finished the game with only a single-digit deficit.

“St. Cloud State came out and played better then we expected,” said Nolen after the game. They are a very good team who gave us a good challenge tonight.”

On November 6, the Gophers beat the Northern States Wolves of Aberdeen, South Dakota, 92-62. In the first half, the Wolves closed the Gophers’ lead to 25-24 on a three-pointer by senior Kevin Ratzsch. However, following a basket and free-throw conversion by Alex Thomas of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which brought Northern State to within 31-27 with 4:17 to play, the Gophers held the Wolves scoreless the rest of the period and opened up a 40-27 halftime lead.

Minnesota dominated the second half with Devoe Joseph, a freshman from Ajax, Ontario, scoring all 14 of his points. Lawrence Westbrook led the Gophers with 19 points while Paul Carter had 17 points to go with seven rebounds. Al Nolen led the team with six assists. Ralph Sampson, with his dad again in the stands, came off the bench in the first half but quickly got into foul trouble and departed with just two points and no rebounds; however, Sampson scored 10 more in the second half and grabbed three rebounds, two off the offensive boards. For the second game in a row, the Gophers shot well from the field (33-39 for a .559 percentage) and improved their free-throw shooting by making 19 or 25 for a .760 percentage. Ratzch led the Wolves with 20 points, making eight of 16 field-goal attempts, including two of five from beyond the arc.

“We shot the ball well,” said Smith after the game. “Usually when you make shots, you look better and you are not as good as you think you are. We made shots earlier on and we continued to make shots and create opportunities with our defense by forcing turnovers and doing some things”

The Gophers will open their regular season in the NABC Classic November 14-16 with games against Concordia of St. Paul, Bowling Green, and Georgia State.

Notes: Northern State head coach Don Meyer was on the bench for the first time this season in the game against the Gophers, although assistant Don Baruth did most of the coaching in the game. Meyer, with 891 wins, is second to Bob Knight (with 902 wins) for most coaching victories in college basketball. Meyer was injured in a September 5 auto accident while taking his team to a retreat and had his left leg amputated. While in the hospital, it was discovered that he had cancer in his liver and small intestine. Now in his 37th year as a head coach, Meyer started his college coaching career at Hamline University in St. Paul in 1972. Taking over a team that had a 30-177 record over the previous six seasons, Meyer led the Pipers to a 37-41 record in three seasons. (Hamline was 5-20 in Meyer’s first season, then had records of 16-10 and 16-11, reaching the NCAA Division III Elite Eight in 1974-75.) Meyer then spent 24 seasons as head coach at David Lipscomb University in Nashville before coming to Northern State in 1999.