The Stanford Cardinals easily handled the Gophers in the 2012 NIT Finals.
SERIES INFORMATION
Series: Sixth meeting (4-1)
Series (Neutral): Third meeting (1-1)
Current Streak: L-1
Last Meeting: March 29, 2012 (L, 75-51 – NIT)
Tubby Smith vs. Stanford: Third meeting (1-1)
Minnesota vs. Pac-12: 38-27
Tubby Smith vs. Pac-12: 15-5
Game day Tid-Bits:
• Tubby Smith is 15-5 all-time against teams currently in Pac-1 Conference and will be meeting Stanford for the third time as a head coach – 0-1 at Minnesota & 1-0 at Kentucky.
• Tubby Smith defeated Stanford, then led by Mike Montgomery, in the 1998 NCAA National Semifinals 86-85 in overtime in San Antonio. Smith & the Wildcats went on to defeat Utah for the National Championship. Gopher assistant coach Saul Smith was a freshman guard on that Wildcat team.
• This is the sixth meeting between Minnesota and Stanford. The two teams met for the 2012 NIT Championship, a game the Cardinal won 75-51 at Madison Square Garden. Rodney Williams led the Gophers with 12 points and Joe Coleman and Austin Hollins each contributed 10 points.
• Minnesota now holds an overall record of 14-6 against the other seven teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis field.
• Minnesota holds a record of 12-5 in regular-season tournaments during the Tubby Smith era, including the 2010 Puerto Rico Tipoff title after wins over Western Kentucky, #8 North Carolina & West Virginia.
• Andre Hollins scored a career-high 41 points against Memphis on Friday becoming just the fourth player in Gopher basketball history to finish a game with 40 or more points and the first since Oliver Shannon finished with 42 points against Wisconsin during the 1970-71 season.
• Hollins finished 12-of-16 from field overall, including a perfect 5-of-5 from three point land. He also converted 12-of-13 free throws. His season scoring average jumped from 9.8 ppg to a team-high 15.0 ppg.