Colorado State University Athletics
Game Notes: Rams travel to Minnesota
12/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
GAME NO. 9 COLORADO STATE (5-3/0-0) at Minnesota (5-1/0-0) Saturday, dec. 8, 2007 | Minneapolis, Minn. | Williams Arena | 6 p.m. MT
THE MATCHUP Colorado State hits the road for the seventh game away from the friendly confines of Moby Arena as it travels to Minneapolis, Minn., for a game with legendary coach Tubby Smith and his Golden Gophers.
About Minnesota The Golden Gophers are 5-1 overall and have a perfect 4-0 record at home this season. Tubby Smith is in his first season at the helm of the program. The trio of Lawrence McKenzie (11.8), Dan Coleman (10.5) and Spencer Tollackson (10.5) average double-figures for Minnesota. The leading rebounder for the Golden Gophers is Tollackson who averages 6.3 rebounds a game. Blake Hoffarber averages 8.7 points per game coming off the bench.
Series with Minnesota The Rams have faced off with Minnesota three times and trail 1-2 in the series. The last meeting between the two teams came in the first round of the 1998 NIT. CSU fell to the Golden Gophers 77-65.
Memorable series moment Pat Durham scored 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field to lead the Rams to a 21-point victory in Moby Arena. Rams guard David Turcotte also chipped in with a 21-point performance by making three of his five tries from beyond the arc. CSU shot 60 percent from the field in the game to the Gophers' 40 percent.
Local connections CSU assistant coach Niko Medved was an assistant at Minnesota last season, is returning to his alma mater and served as a student assistant to the program while in college. Head coach Tim Miles coached at nearby Southwest Minnesota State from 1997-2001, where he led the school to a 73-39 overall record. Center Dan Vandervieren attended high school in Minnetonka, Minn. and was previously teammates with Gopher guard Blake Hoffarber (at Hopkins High School).
Colorado State vs Denver Colorado State won the battle of I-25 with the lowest-scoring game in the history of Moby Arena, a 44-40 defeat of Denver Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 2,497. The Rams were paced by Marcus Walker with 13 points while Adam Nigon and Ronnie Aguilar led on the boards with five each. After shooting 57.9 percent from the field in the first half, the Rams were 5-of-17 from the field for 29.4 percent shooting in the second half. Denver shot 21.7 percent in the second half after shooting 50 percent in the first stanza. The two teams combined for only nine offensive rebounds, accounting for just 16.9 percent of the total rebounding. The Rams bounced back from a terrible rebounding performance against Northern Colorado to hold the advantage on the boards, 29-24.
YOUTHFUL OFFENSE This season the Rams field their youngest squad in the last 30 years and the freshmen have really come through. The five CSU freshmen are averaging a combined 16.8 points per game with Josh Simmons and Andre McFarland assuming starting roles.
TWO GOOD FOR AT LEAST FIVE Stuart Creason and Willis Gardner are each averaging at least five rebounds a game. The duo accounts for one-third of the Rams' boards each game.
DOUBLE DIGITS Marcus Walker, Stuart Creason and Willis Gardner each average double figures for the season in scoring. The Rams' leading scorer has come from the trio in every game this season.
Championship Colorado State won its first Top of the World Classic championship in Fairbanks Nov. 18. Stuart Creason was named the tournament MVP and Marcus Walker, who set the record for most points in a game with 43 against TSU, joined him on the squad.
IRON MAN GARDNER Gardner became the first player since Micheal Morris on Nov. 19, 2005, to play the full minutes in a game on Nov. 9 at Montana. He is the first Ram in two decades to play all 40 minutes in his Colorado State debut. Gardner is averaging 34.3 minutes a game this season.
POINTS ON THE BOARD Marcus Walker had the best scoring outing in more than 30 years as he scored 43 points against Tennessee State at the BP Top of the World Classic. Walker shot the lights out hitting on 15-of-18 from the field, 83.3 percent.
SOFT TOUCH CSU guards Marcus Walker and Willis Gardner account for half of the teams' free throw attempts. Combined they are 46-54 for 85.2 percent from the line.
ALL-TIME MOBY RECORD Colorado State holds an all-time record of 427-169 (.716) in Moby Arena.
HOME WIN STREAK Colorado State has won 24 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents, a streak which ranks 13th nationally.
