# 2012–13 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 2012–13 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2012-13 college basketball season. It was the sixth and final season for team's head coach, Tubby Smith, who was fired shortly after the conclusion of the season. The Golden Gophers, members of the Big Ten Conference, played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They finished with a record of 21–13 overall, 8–10 in Big Ten for a three-way tie for 7th place. They lost to Illinois in the first round in the 2013 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament. They were invited to the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and lost in the third round to Florida.
Coach Tubby Smith's firing was announced on March 25, 2013. On April 3, 2013, it was verbally agreed upon that Richard Pitino would become the new Gophers basketball coach.

## Roster

| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous team(s) |
| 00 | Julian Welch | 6'3" | 195 | G | Sr. | Elk Grove, CA, U.S. | Franklin HS |
| 1 | Andre Hollins | 6'1" | 200 | G | So. | Memphis, TN, U.S. | White Station HS |
| 3 | Wally Ellenson | 6'4" | 200 | G | Fr. | Rice Lake, WI, U.S. | Rice Lake HS |
| 10 | Oto Osenieks | 6'8" | 205 | F | RSo. | Riga, Latvia | Brehm Prep |
| 11 | Joe Coleman | 6'4" | 208 | G | So. | Minneapolis, MN, U.S. | Hopkins HS |
| 13 | Maverick Ahanmisi | 6'2" | 192 | G | Jr. | Santa Clarita, CA, U.S. | Stoneridge Prep |
| 15 | Maurice Walker | 6'10" | 289 | F | RSo. | Scarborough, Ontario, Canada | Brewster Academy |
| 20 | Austin Hollins | 6'4" | 185 | G | Jr. | Germantown, TN, U.S. | Germantown HS |
| 22 | Chris Halvorsen | 6'8" | 214 | F | RJr. | St. Paul, MN, U.S. | Henry Sibley HS |
| 24 | Charles Buggs | 6'8" | 198 | F | Fr. | Arlington, TX, U.S. | Hargrave Military Academy |
| 30 | Andre Ingram | 6'7" | 213 | F | Sr. | Minneapolis, MN, U.S. | Minnesota Transitions |
| 32 | Trevor Mbakwe | 6'8" | 245 | F | GSr. | Saint Paul, MN, U.S. | St. Bernard's HS Miami Dade College |
| 33 | Rodney Williams | 6'7" | 200 | F | Sr. | Minneapolis, MN, U.S. | Robbinsdale Cooper HS |
| 34 | Kendal Shell | 6'0" | 190 | G | So. | St. Louis, MO, U.S. | Webster Groves HS |
| 55 | Elliott Eliason | 6'11" | 260 | C | RSo. | Chadron, NE, U.S. | Chadron HS |

## 2012–13 schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/01/2012* 7:00 pm | | Minnesota State | W 81–56 | – | Williams Arena (8,907) Minneapolis, MN |
| 11/05/2012* 7:00 pm | | Southwest Baptist | W 86–59 | – | Williams Arena (8,654) Minneapolis, MN |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/09/2012* 7:00 pm | | American | W 72–36 | 1–0 | Williams Arena (10,172) Minneapolis, MN |
| 11/12/2012* 7:00 pm | | Toledo | W 82–56 | 2–0 | Williams Arena (11,028) Minneapolis, MN |
| 11/15/2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Tennessee State | W 72–43 | 3–0 | Williams Arena (10,107) Minneapolis, MN |
| 11/18/2012* 6:00 pm, BTN | | Richmond | W 72–57 | 4–0 | Williams Arena (11,341) Minneapolis, MN |
| 11/22/2012* 2:30 pm, AXS TV | | vs. No. 5 Duke Battle 4 Atlantis Quarterfinal | L 71–89 | 4–1 | Imperial Arena (3,511) Nassau, BAH |
| 11/23/2012* 12:00 pm, AXS TV | | vs. No. 19 Memphis Battle 4 Atlantis Consolation round | W 84–75 | 5–1 | Imperial Arena (1,462) Nassau, BAH |
| 11/24/2012* 2:30 pm, AXS TV | | vs. Stanford Battle 4 Atlantis 5th place game | W 66–63 | 6–1 | Imperial Arena (1,845) Nassau, BAH |
| 11/27/2012* 6:15 pm, ESPN2 | No. 21 | at Florida State ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 77–68 | 7–1 | Donald L. Tucker Center (7,941) Tallahassee, FL |
| 12/01/2012* 1:00 pm | No. 21 | North Florida | W 87–59 | 8–1 | Williams Arena (10,173) Minneapolis, MN |
| 12/04/2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 14 | South Dakota State | W 88–64 | 9–1 | Williams Arena (10,213) Minneapolis, MN |
| 12/08/2012* 9:30 pm, P12N | No. 14 | at USC | W 71–57 | 10–1 | Galen Center (3,271) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/11/2012* 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 13 | North Dakota State | W 70–57 | 11–1 | Williams Arena (10,472) Minneapolis, MN |
| 12/22/2012* 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 13 | Lafayette | W 75–50 | 12–1 | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2012 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | No. 18 Michigan State | W 76–63 | 13–1 (1–0) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 01/06/2013 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 9 | Northwestern | W 69–51 | 14–1 (2–0) | Williams Arena (12,750) Minneapolis, MN |
| 01/09/2013 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | at No. 12 Illinois | W 84–67 | 15–1 (3–0) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| 01/12/2013 11:00 am, BTN | No. 8 | at No. 5 Indiana | L 81–88 | 15–2 (3–1) | Assembly Hall (17,472) Bloomington, IN |
| 01/17/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | No. 5 Michigan | L 75–83 | 15–3 (3–2) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 01/23/2013 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | at Northwestern | L 48–55 | 15–4 (3–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,112) Evanston, IL |
| 01/26/2013 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | at Wisconsin | L 44–45 | 15–5 (3–4) | Kohl Center (17,249) Madison, WI |
| 01/29/2013 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | Nebraska | W 84–65 | 16–5 (4–4) | Williams Arena (12,672) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/03/2013 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | Iowa | W 62–59 | 17–5 (5–4) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/06/2013 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 18 | at No. 12 Michigan State | L 50–61 | 17–6 (5–5) | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| 02/10/2013 5:00 pm, BTN | No. 18 | Illinois | L 53–57 | 17–7 (5–6) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/14/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 20 Wisconsin | W 58–53 $^{OT}$ | 18–7 (6–6) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/17/2013 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 51–72 | 18–8 (6–7) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,400) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/20/2013 6:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 18 Ohio State | L 45–71 | 18–9 (6–8) | Value City Arena (16,378) Columbus, OH |
| 02/26/2013 6:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 1 Indiana | W 77–73 | 19–9 (7–8) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 03/02/2013 2:00 pm, BTN | | Penn State | W 73–44 | 20–9 (8–8) | Williams Arena (12,562) Minneapolis, MN |
| 03/06/2013 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | L 51–53 | 20–10 (8–9) | Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,194) Lincoln, NE |
| 03/09/2013 11:00 am, BTN | | at Purdue | L 73–89 | 20–11 (8–10) | Mackey Arena (14,082) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2013 Big Ten tournament ||||||
| 03/14/2013 11:00 am, BTN | (9) | vs. (8) Illinois First Round | L 49–51 | 20–12 | United Center (N/A) Chicago, IL |
| 2013 NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/22/2013* 9:21 pm, TruTV | (11 S) | vs. (6 S) No. 24 UCLA Second Round | W 83–63 | 21–12 | Frank Erwin Center (13,825) Austin, TX |
| 03/24/2013* 5:10 pm, TNT | (11 S) | vs. (3 S) No. 14 Florida Third Round | L 64–78 | 21–13 | Frank Erwin Center (14,520) Austin, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## National Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| T | Tied |