University of Minnesota Athletics

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SERIES
First time: 1. January 2003 (F, 85-80)
Last time: ​​21. December 2017 (week, 77-63)
All-Time Series: Minnesota leads 4-0 at Williams Arena

START FIVE
• Minnesota opens the season by hosting Oral Roberts on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. The game is expected to stream on B1G+. The 2024-25 season is the 130th season as a Golden Gopher sport, dating back to 1895-1896. Minnesota is looking to extend its season-opening winning streak to 10 consecutive seasons, dating back to the 2015-16 season. Minnesota's last home opener was a neutral loss to Louisville in 2014. Of the 18 Big Ten teams, 14 take the field on Nov. 4, while the four remaining teams, including the Gophers, open play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• It's a battle of the Golden teams in Wednesday's match as the Golden Gophers take on the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts. Minnesota is 4-0 all-time against ORU since 2003. All games were played at Williams Arena. Minnesota and Oral Roberts last met on December 21, 2017, when the Gophers won 77-63.
• The Gophers completed the exhibition game on Oct. 29 with a 79-57 victory over Hamline. Brennan Rigsby led Minnesota with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting, Dawson Garcia added 11 points and the Gophers took a 19-0 lead and kept playing. All 14 eligible players saw action in the win.
• Ben Johnson enters his fourth year at the helm of Golden Gopher men's basketball. In Johnson's third year, the Gophers held an overall record of 19-15 in 2023-24. Minnesota improved from 2-17 in Big Ten play and 9-22 in the 2022-23 season to 9-11 in the league and 19-15 overall in the 2023-24 season. That win improvement was the best in the Big Ten and one of the best nationally among power conference teams. The Gophers also achieved their first winning season in five years in the 2023-24 season.
• Dawson Garcia was named to multiple preseason honors this year: Preseason All-Big Ten honoree, Naismith Top 50 Trophy Watch List, preseason finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award and Blue Ribbon Preseason All -Big Ten. It was the second straight year as Preseason All-Big Ten and the third time in his college career that he was on a Hall of Fame list.


CAREER MILESTONES CLOSER
• Minnesota has a number of individuals approaching their careers and Minnesota milestones. Mike Mitchell Jr. And Femi Odukale are both approaching 1,000 career points. Mitchell Jr. has 993 career points while Femi Odukale holds 989 points.
• Dawson Garcia is 57 points away from 1,000 points as a Golden Gopher. With 943 points, Garcia would be the first Gopher to score 1,000 points in a Minnesota jersey since Daniel Oturu in 2020. He had 398 points in his first season with the Gophers (2022-23) and 545 points in his final season in 2023-24.

MEET THE 2024-25 GOLDEN GOPHERS
• Minnesota returns two of its top three scorers Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell and Sixth-Man Parker Fox, Kadyn Betts and accessible Erick Reader. Garcia, a 2024 second- and third-team All-Big Ten selection and 2025 preseason All-Big Ten honoree, returns after averaging 17.6 points for his senior year and is the Big Ten's top returning scorer -Scorer from a year ago. Garcia ranks first in scoring among returning Big Ten athletes and is just one of six returning players to earn All-Big Ten honors during the 2023-24 season. Mitchell Jr. is also a returning starter for the Gophers. He ranked third on the team with an average of just over 10.2 ppg. He and Fox saw action in all 34 games during the 2023-24 season, the only two Gophers to do so.
• The Golden Gophers add seven seniors (Tyler Cochran, Trey Edmonds, Femi OdukaleLu'Cye Patterson, Brennan Rigsby, Caleb Williams as well as walkable Lincoln Mastera junior (Frank Mitchell) and two freshmen (Isaac Asuma And Grayson Grove). Max Sheridan is also an addition as a second year student.

Looking for the golden eagles
• Like Minnesota, Oral Roberts has some new faces, welcoming 10 new additions to the roster for the 2024-25 season. ORU is led by second-year head coach Russell Springmann as the team went 12-19 in his first year. The Golden Eagles added six transfers and four newcomers, as well as seven returning players.
• Returning to the squad is last year's leading scorer, Issac McBride, who averaged 19.8 points and 3.5 rebounds. He also shot 44.8 percent from the field. McBride was named Summit League Preseason Player of the Year and Summit League Preseason First Team and Bracketeer Preseason All-American Watch List.
• ORU was ranked fifth in the Summit League preseason poll.

ON THE CEILING
• Minnesota continues the action in this opening week when it hosts Omaha on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on Peacock. Tanner Hoops and Al Nolen will host the radio show on KTLK (1130 AM and 103.5 FM).