2011–12 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

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.

2011–12 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
NIT Runner-up vs. Stanford, L 75–51
Conference	Big Ten Conference
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 →

2011–12 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	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

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

See also: 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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