2011–12 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

2011–12 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	† 2012 Big Ten Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

2011–12 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
2011–12 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
NIT Runner-up vs. Stanford, L 75–51
Conference	Big Ten Conference
2011–12 record	23–15 (6–12 Big Ten)
Head coach	Tubby Smith;
Assistant coaches	Ron Jirsa; Saul Smith; Vince Taylor;
Home arena	Williams Arena
	Seasons ← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the college basketball season of 2011–2012. The team's head coach, Tubby Smith was in his fifth year at Minnesota. The Golden Gophers played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., and are members of the newly expanded Big Ten Conference.

Season[]

With the departure of seniors Blake Hoffarber and Al Nolen, the Gophers entered the season under the leadership of returning members, including veterans Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III.

The Gophers also lost junior Colton Iverson, who transferred to play for the Colorado State Rams at the end of the previous season.^[1]

On November 27, during the championship game of the Old Spice Classic, Trevor Mbakwe tore his ACL and missed the remainder of the season.^[2]

Freshman guard Andre Hollins was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the Big Ten Tournament championship game on March 11.^[3]

Roster[]

#	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Position	Class	Hometown	Previous team(s)
00	Julian Welch	6'3"	195	G	Jr.	Elk Grove, CA, U.S.	Franklin HS
1	Andre Hollins	6'1"	200	G	Fr.	Memphis, TN, U.S.	White Station HS
10	Oto Osenieks	6'8"	205	F	RFr.	Riga, Latvia	Brehm Prep
11	Joe Coleman	6'4"	208	G	Fr.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Hopkins HS
13	Maverick Ahanmisi	6'2"	192	G	So.	Santa Clarita, CA, U.S.	Stoneridge Prep
15	Maurice Walker	6'10"	289	F	So.	Scarborough, Ontario, Canada	Brewster Academy
20	Austin Hollins	6'4"	185	G	So.	Germantown, TN, U.S.	Germantown HS
22	Chris Halvorsen	6'8"	214	F	RSo.	St. Paul, MN, U.S.	Henry Sibley HS
23	Chip Armelin	6'3"	198	G	So.	Sulphur, LA, U.S.	Sulphur HS
30	Andre Ingram	6'7"	213	F	Jr.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Minnesota Transitions
32	Trevor Mbakwe	6'8"	245	F	RSr.	Saint Paul, MN, U.S.	St. Bernard's HS Miami Dade College
33	Rodney Williams	6'7"	200	F	Jr.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Robbinsdale Cooper HS
34	Kendal Shell	6'0"	190	G	Fr.	St. Louis, MO, U.S.	Webster Groves HS
50	Ralph Sampson III	6'11"	241	F/C	Sr.	Duluth, GA, U.S.	Northview HS
55	Elliott Eliason	6'11"	260	C	RFr.	Chadron, NE, U.S.	Chadron HS

2011–12 schedule and results[]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/01/2011* 7:00 pm	Bemidji State	W 71–58	—	Williams Arena (10,653) Minneapolis, MN
11/07/2011* 7:00 pm	Augustana College (SD)	W 72–60	—	Williams Arena (10,644) Minneapolis, MN
Regular season
11/11/2011* 7:00 pm	Bucknell	W 70–58	1–0	Williams Arena (11,976) Minneapolis, MN
11/14/2011* 7:00 pm	South Dakota State	W 71–55	2–0	Williams Arena (10,460) Minneapolis, MN
11/17/2011* 6:00 pm, BTN	Fairfield	W 67–57	3–0	Williams Arena (10,641) Minneapolis, MN
11/21/2011* 7:00 pm	Mount St. Mary's	W 85–56	4–0	Williams Arena (10,487) Minneapolis, MN
11/24/2011* 1:30 pm, ESPN2	vs. DePaul Old Spice Classic Quarterfinal	W 86–85	5–0	HP Field House (3,170) Orlando, FL
11/25/2011* 11:00 am, ESPN	vs. Indiana State Old Spice Classic Semifinal	W 76–69	6–0	HP Field House (3,377) Orlando, FL
11/27/2011* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	vs. Dayton Old Spice Classic Championship	L 70–86	6–1	HP Field House (3,874) Orlando, FL
11/30/2011* 8:15 pm, ESPN2	Virginia Tech ACC – Big Ten Challenge	W 58–55	7–1	Williams Arena (10,487) Minneapolis, MN
12/03/2011* 1:15 pm, BTN	USC	W 55–40	8–1	Williams Arena (11,762) Minneapolis, MN
12/06/2011* 7:00 pm, BTN	Appalachian State	W 70–56	9–1	Williams Arena (10,782) Minneapolis, MN
12/10/2011* 12:00 pm	St. Peter's	W 69–47	10–1	Williams Arena (11,007) Minneapolis, MN
12/13/2011* 8:00 pm, ESPN	Central Michigan	W 76–56	11–1	Williams Arena (10,290) Minneapolis, MN
12/22/2011* 7:00 pm	North Dakota State	W 63–59	12–1	Williams Arena (11,681) Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten regular season
12/27/2011 6:30 pm, BTN	at Illinois	L 72–81 ^2OT	12–2 (0–1)	Assembly Hall (15,549) Champaign, IL
01/01/2012 3:00 pm, BTN	at No. 18 Michigan	L 56–61	12–3 (0–2)	Crisler Arena (12,721) Ann Arbor, MI
01/04/2012 8:00 pm, BTN	Iowa	L 62–64	12–4 (0–3)	Williams Arena (12,018) Minneapolis, MN
01/08/2012 5:00 pm, BTN	Purdue	L 66–79	12–5 (0–4)	Williams Arena (11,761) Minneapolis, MN
01/12/2012 7:00 pm, BTN	at No. 7 Indiana	W 77–74	13–5 (1–4)	Assembly Hall (17,373) Bloomington, IN
01/15/2012 3:00 pm, BTN	at Penn State	W 80–66	14–5 (2–4)	Bryce Jordan Center (9,065) University Park, PA
01/22/2012 3:00 pm, BTN	Northwestern	W 75–52	15–5 (3–4)	Williams Arena (12,219) Minneapolis, MN
01/25/2012 7:30 pm, BTN	at No. 10 Michigan State	L 52–68	15–6 (3–5)	Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
01/28/2012 7:00 pm, BTN	Illinois	W 77–72 ^OT	16–6 (4–5)	Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN
02/01/2012 7:30 pm, BTN	at Iowa	L 59–63	16–7 (4–6)	Carver-Hawkeye Arena (11,232) Iowa City, IA
02/05/2012 12:00 pm, BTN	at Nebraska	W 69–61	17–7 (5–6)	Bob Devaney Sports Center (9,857) Lincoln, NE
02/09/2012 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 21 Wisconsin	L 61–68 ^OT	17–8 (5–7)	Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN
02/14/2012 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 6 Ohio State	L 68–78	17–9 (5–8)	Williams Arena (13,245) Minneapolis, MN
02/18/2012 6:00 pm, BTN	at Northwestern	L 53–64	17–10 (5–9)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,522) Evanston, IL
02/22/2012 7:30 pm, BTN	No. 6 Michigan State	L 61–66	17–11 (5–10)	Williams Arena (13,331) Minneapolis, MN
02/26/2012 12:00 pm, ESPN	No. 23 Indiana	L 50–69	17–12 (5–11)	Williams Arena (11,421) Minneapolis, MN
02/28/2012 7:00 pm, BTN	at No. 14 Wisconsin	L 45–52	17–13 (5–12)	Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI
03/03/2012 11:30 am, BTN	Nebraska	W 81–69	18–13 (6–12)	Williams Arena (11,262) Minneapolis, MN
2012 Big Ten Tournament
03/08/2012 4:30 pm, ESPN2	vs. Northwestern First Round	W 75–68 ^OT	19–13	Bankers Life Fieldhouse (17,257) Indianapolis, IN
03/09/2012 5:30 pm, BTN	vs. No. 10 Michigan Quarterfinals	L 69–73 ^OT	19–14	Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,484) Indianapolis, IN
2012 National Invitation Tournament
03/14/2012* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	at La Salle First Round	W 70–61	20–14	Tom Gola Arena (3,023) Philadelphia, PA
03/19/2012* 8:00 pm, ESPN	at Miami Second Round	W 78–60	21–14	BankUnited Center (1,649) Coral Gables, FL
03/21/2012* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	at Middle Tennessee Quarterfinals	W 78–72	22–14	Murphy Center (10,521) Murfreesboro, TN
03/27/2012* 8:00 pm, ESPN2	vs. Washington Semifinals	W 68–67 ^OT	23–14	Madison Square Garden (7,574) New York, NY
03/29/2012* 6:00 pm, ESPN	vs. Stanford Championship	L 51–75	23–15	Madison Square Garden (5,494) New York, NY
*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	RV	RV	RV	NR
Coaches	NR

		Increase in ranking				Decrease in ranking				No change		RV		Received votes		NR		Not ranked

References[]

^ "CSU basketball adds Minnesota transfer Iverson". Danny Mattie. Colorado State University. April 11, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
^ "Gophers lose Trevor Mbakwe for season". Myron Medcalf. ESPN.com. November 28, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
^ "Michigan State-Ohio State Postgame Notes". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. March 11, 2012. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.

[1] "CSU basketball adds Minnesota transfer Iverson". Danny Mattie. Colorado State University. April 11, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011.

[2] "Gophers lose Trevor Mbakwe for season". Myron Medcalf. ESPN.com. November 28, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.

[3] "Michigan State-Ohio State Postgame Notes". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. March 11, 2012. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Venues	On-campus YMCA (1895–1896) UM Armory (1896–1925) Kenwood Armory (1925–1928) Williams Arena (1928–present)
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher "Minnesota Rouser" Scandal
People	Statistical leaders
	1901–02 1902–03 1918–19 1979–80 1981–82 1986–87 1988–89 1989–90 1992–93 1996–97 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

2011–12 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Michigan State†	13	–	5	.722	29	–	8	.784
No. 13 Michigan	13	–	5	.722	24	–	10	.706
No. 7 Ohio State	13	–	5	.722	31	–	8	.795
No. 14 Wisconsin	12	–	6	.667	26	–	10	.722
No. 16 Indiana	11	–	7	.611	27	–	9	.750
Purdue	10	–	8	.556	22	–	13	.629
Northwestern	8	–	10	.444	19	–	14	.576
Iowa	8	–	10	.444	18	–	17	.514
Illinois	6	–	12	.333	17	–	15	.531
Minnesota	6	–	12	.333	23	–	15	.605
Nebraska	4	–	14	.222	12	–	18	.400
Penn State	4	–	14	.222	12	–	20	.375

† 2012 Big Ten Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll