NIU (4-4) at Minnesota (9-1)
Date / Time: Sunday, December 11, 2016 • 4 p.m. CT
Site: Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: WLBK 1360-AM, 98.9-FM (DeKalb) • TuneIn
Live Stats: GopherSports.com 
All-time Series: Minnesota leads 5-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 15, 2009 • Minnesota 89-48

Huskie Quick Hits
• NIU returns to action following an 11-day break for finals, the Huskies last took the floor on Nov. 30 at Indiana State. 
• Aaric Armstead became the 30th player in NIU history to reach 1,000 career points with his nine at Indiana State (Nov. 30). Armstead currently has 1,005 career points. 
• Armstead's 1,000th point came in his 100th career game; Armstead had made 90 career starts and has scored in double figures 52 times.
• Armstead ranks 11th in the MAC in rebounding (6.8 per game) and 13th in free throw percentage (78.9 percent).  
• Last time out at Indiana State (Nov. 30), freshman Justin Thomas netted a career-best 12 points. Thomas has committed just one turnover in 106 minutes this season. 
• NIU is averaging 14.6 second chance points while holding its opponents to just 7.9 second chance points this season. 
• Laytwan Porter leads the MAC in three-point shooting at 57.1 percent (16-of-28). 
• Over the last six games, NIU is shooting 73 percent (108-0f-148) as a team from the free-throw line. 
• NIU is looking for its first win over a Big Ten foe since Dec. 14, 1999, when the Huskies downed Wisconsin. 
• NIU head coach Mark Montgomery had a 2-2 record as a player and a 6-3 record as an assistant at Michigan State against Minnesota at Williams Arena. 

About Minnesota
• The Golden Gophers bring a 9-1 overall record into Sunday's contest, including a perfect 8-0 home mark, after defeating Georgia Southern, 86-49, at home on Friday night (Dec. 9). 
• Amir Coffey leads three players for Minnesota scoring in double figures, Coffey is averaging 13.0 points per contest. Nate Mason (12.9 ppg) and Dupree McBrayer (11.4 ppg) are also scoring in double figures for the Gophers. 
• Minnesota is playing its fourth game in nine days, a stretch that began with a win over Vanderbilt in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Dec. 3, and also included home wins against NJIT (Dec. 6) and Georgia Southern (Dec. 9). 
• Richard Pitino is in his fourth season as head coach of the Gophers, he led Minnesota to the NIT Championship in his first season. 

All-time Series with the Golden Gophers
• Minnesota has won all five meetings in the all-time series between the Huskies and Gophers, including an 89-48 victory in the last meeting (Dec. 15, 2009). Blake Hoffarber scored 26 points to lead Minnesota. 
• Four of the five meetings between NIU and Minnesota have taken place in Minneapolis, with the lone meeting in DeKalb coming on Dec. 23, 1988, a 93-74 Gopher victory. 

Monty in the Barn
• With the last meeting between the Huskies and Golden Gophers coming in 2009, no current NIU players have played in Minnesota's historic home, but Huskie head coach Mark Montgomery is no stranger to the elevated floor of Williams Arena. 
• As a player at Michigan State (1988-92), Montgomery's Spartan teams went 2-2 at Minnesota, earning victories during his sophomore and junior seasons (March 3, 1990 and Feb. 25, 1991). 
• During his 10 seasons as an assistant at Michigan State (2001-11), Montgomery was a part of a 6-3 record for the Spartans in Williams Arena, including four-straight wins at the end of his tenure.