Wolverines to Take on Gophers for Second Time in 11 Days

» Playing its fourth straight top-25 opponent, No. 7 Michigan heads to Minneapolis to face No. 23 Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.
» Michigan met Minnesota on Jan. 6 at Crisler Center, an 82-57 Wolverine victory.
» Hunter Dickinson leads U-M in scoring and rebounding, and was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week for the fifth time in six weeks.
» Mike Smith has five straight games of six assists and leads U-M with a 5.4 average.
» Franz Wagner has scored in double figures in his last five games, including two double-doubles.

• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

The seventh-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (11-0, 6-0 Big Ten) looks to continue its hot streak when it takes on No. 23 Minnesota (10-4, 3-4 Big Ten) for the second time in 11 days at Williams Arena on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 16). The game is scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. CST tipoff on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Dan Dakich (analyst) as the broadcast crew.

Hail From Home

Game days may look different this season, but the tradition of cheering on Michigan men's basketball continues. Hail From Home is our way to virtually bring the excitement of game day to fans. Throughout the season, fans can look forward to a variety of digital engagements including a game day check-in with monthly prizes, fan cutouts at Crisler Center, game day playlists, Crisler scoreboard messages, special theme games, and more. » Hail from Home

Who are the Minnesota Golden Gophers?

• No. 23 Minnesota (10-4, 3-4 B1G) hosts the Wolverines at Williams Arena after playing at Crisler on Jan. 6, a U-M win. The Gophers also had a midweek-bye this week, six days off, after back-to-back road games at No. 10 Michigan (L, 82-57) and at No. 5 Iowa (L, 86-71).
• Minnesota is 10-0 at Williams Arena with wins over No. 25 Ohio State (77-60, Jan. 3), No. 17 Michigan State (81-56, Dec. 28) and No. 4 Iowa (102-95, OT; Dec. 25).
• Minnesota has brought in three transfers to help bolster its starting five -- 7-foor junior center Liam Robbins (Drake; 13.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg), 6-foot-6 junior guard Both Gach (Utah; 10.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and 6-foot-8 forward graduate transfer Brandon Johnson (Western Michigan; 8.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg).
• The Gophers are once again led by Marcus Carr, who is averaging 20.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He has drained 33 three-pointers and has made 94 trips to the free-throw line.
• Minnesota averages 79.1 points per game with 38.9 rebounds. It is shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from long distance. Just about 41 percent of the Gophers offense comes via the long-range shot.

Just 11 Days Ago ... Michigan 82; Minnesota 57 (Crisler Center)

• Playing its second straight ranked opponent, No. 10 Michigan was leading by six points, 32-26, at the break. However, the Wolverines used a 39-8 second-half run over the first 12 minutes to build a 37-point lead and cruised to its fifth straight Big Ten victory.
• In a battle of two of the Big Ten's best big men, Hunter Dickinson went for a career-best 12-for-15 from the field to score a career-best 28 points -- his third 20-plus point game and second in three games. He added eight rebounds and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in 31 minutes. Minnesota's Liam Robbins scored the Gophers' first five points 2:44 into game before being held scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
• Isaiah Livers added 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Franz Wagner posted his fourth straight double-figure game with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, no turnovers and two blocks.

The Series with Minnesota

• Saturday's game will be the 165th all-time meeting between Michigan and Minnesota. The Wolverines lead, 97-67, in the all-time series wih the Gophers. U-M has a 34-46 record in Minneapolis, going 9-3 in its last 12 games at Williams Arena.
• Michigan has 10 games (6-4) vacated due to NCAA Sanctions -- giving U-M an adjusted 91-63 all-time record against Minnesota.
• There have been 15 games played when both Michigan and Minnesota were ranked among the nation's top 25, with U-M posting an 11-4 record in those games. The last meeting was Jan. 6, when No. 10 Michigan defeated No. 16 Minnesota, 82-57, at Crisler Center.
• There have been 29 games decided by three points or fewer, with U-M leading, 20-9, in those contests. The last time a game was decided by fewer than three points was when a Charles Matthews baseline jumper off an Ignas Brazdeikis missed layup helped U-M to a 59-57 victory on Jan. 22, 2019.
• There have been seven overtime games in the all-time series with Michigan leading, 6-1. The last overtime game was at Crisler Center on Feb. 3, 2018, when the Wolverines held off a Gophers second-half rally to win, 76-73, in the extra period.
• Longest U-M win streak: nine games (Feb. 26, 2011-Feb, 10, 2016)
• Longest U-M losing streak: six games (two times)
• Largest U-M Victory: 41 points (97-56) at Michigan on Jan. 17, 1985
• Largest U-M Loss: 39 points (49-10) at Minnesota on Feb. 16, 1918
• U-M Victories by 10+ points: 47 | U-M Losses by 10+ points: 31
• U-M's average margin of wins: 10.7 points | U-M's average margin of losses: 10.4 points
• Most U-M points: 113 (Feb. 5, 1968) | Most Minnesota points: 102 (March 5, 1962)
• U-M's Total Points: 10,444 (63.7 per game) | Minnesota's Total Points: 10,099 (61.6 per game)

Perfect Material for the Broadcast

• Michigan's 11-game win streak has topped Juwan Howard's prior best run of seven straight wins at the start of last season. During that run, U-M won the Battle 4 Atlantis and vaulted to No. 4 in the AP poll (largest jump in the poll's history) before falling at No. 1 Louisville in the ACC/B1G Challenge.
• The last time U-M rattled off 11 straight games to start a season was the 2018-19 campaign. The Wolverines won their first 17 games before losing at Wisconsin, 64-54. In that season, the Maize and Blue went on to the appear in its third straight Big Ten Tournament title game and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• Hunter Dickinson was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week for the fifth time in six weeks. In U-M's only game last week, he posted a career-best 28 points against No. 16 Minnesota and finished the game a career-best 12-for-15 from the field. Dickinson added eight rebounds as he battled the Gophers 7-footer Liam Robbins (five points, four rebounds).
• Dickinson leads U-M in scoring (17.5), rebounding (7.9) and blocks (1.5) and has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season.
• With the national minimum of 5.0 field goals made per game, Dickinson leads the Big Ten and is third nationally at 70.9 percent (78-for-110) shooting. He trails St. Bonaventure's Jalen Adaway (73.2 percent, 30-for-41) and Grand Canyon's Asbjorn Midtgaard (73.1 percent, 57-for-78).
• In his last five games, Franz Wagner has posted five double-figure games, including a season-best 20 at Nebraska (Dec. 25) as well as posting his second and third career double-doubles against No. 19 Northwestern (14 points, 10 rebounds) and No. 9 Wisconsin (15 points, 10 rebounds), respectively. During that stretch, he has 10 of his 13 three-pointers, posted four assists or more in three games with a career-best five against the Wildcats and collected nine of his team-best 14 steals, including a career-best four against the Badgers.
• Mike Smith has posted five straight games of six assists and leads U-M with a 5.4 average. He has posted three assists or more in all 11 games. Adding in backcourt mate Eli Brooks' 40 (3.6 apg), the duo combines for 99 of U-M's 193 total assists (51 percent).
• Smith is 11-for-17 (64.7 percent) from the three-point line over his last seven games. He started the season going 1-for-9 from deep (four games).
• U-M is shooting 52.4 percent from the field, leading the Big Ten and ranking seventh nationally. The Wolverines also are shooting a Big Ten-best 78.3 percent from the free-throw line (16th nationally). U-M has scored 80 points or more in nine games and averages 82.0 per game, which is third in the Big Ten and 28th nationally.

History-Making Stretch

• According to ESPN, Michigan is the first team in college basketball history to win three straight games against ranked opponents by at least 19 points: No. 19 Northwestern (85-66, +19), No. 16 Minnesota (82-57; +25) and No. 9 Wisconsin (77-54; +23).
• In the Northwestern game, U-M used a 38-16 run to pull away. Northwestern's leading scorer, Boo Buie, was held scoreless for the game (0-for-6).
• In the Minnesota game, U-M used a 39-8 run to lead the way to victory. The Gophers were held scoreless for a five-minute span in the second half.
• In the Wisconsin game, U-M used a 43-6 run to cruise to a win. The Badgers scored just three points during the first 7:10 of the second half.
• Michigan held all three opponents to under 30 first-half points -- Northwestern (29), Minnesota (26) and Wisconsin (23).