Saturday, November 22nd, 10:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Moby Arena (8,745) -- Fort Collins, Colorado. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: Minnesota 3-0, CSU 2-0. Away Record: Minnesota 0-0, CSU 0-0. Neutral Record: Minnesota 0-0, CSU 0-0. Conference Record: Minnesota 0-0, CSU 0-0. Series Record: Minnesota leads, 3-1.

GAME NOTES: Hitting the road for the first time this season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers take their perfect 3-0 mark to Fort Collins tonight to face the Colorado State Rams in a non-conference bout at Moby Arena. The Gophers, who will be back at Williams Arena for five straight after this quick trip, ran the table in their NABC Classic last week with wins over Concordia-St. Paul, Bowling Green and Georgia State. Meanwhile, Colorado State has also gotten off to a perfect start with two wins thus far. First there was a crushing defeat of Montana (85-55) and then an 85-74 decision versus Northern Colorado on Tuesday. Like Minnesota, the Rams also have an early schedule heavy on home games with five in a row to start before making the journey to San Francisco at the end of November. As far as the all-time series is concerned, Minnesota has won three of the previous four meetings, all of those coming in Minneapolis. The first and only other time the Gophers paid a visit to Fort Collins, the Rams posted an 80-61 decision back in 1987.

Against Georgia State, the Golden Gophers had just one player score in double figures as Lawrence Westbrook dropped in 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 effort at the charity stripe. Reserves Ralph Sampson and Blake Hoffarber both accounted for eight points to help cover up for the other four starters who combined for only 20 points. Although Minnesota was guilty of shooting just 6-of-20 behind the three-point line, the team made up for it by forcing 20 turnovers. Through the first three games of the season only Westbrook is averaging double-digit scoring for the Gophers with his 16.0 ppg, thanks in large part to his 13-of-15 effort at the free- throw line. Al Nolen's 9.0 ppg are a solid start considering he's been tasked with distributing the ball for the squad, averaging seven assists per game thus far. At the defensive end of the floor, Nolen has also logged a team-high 12 steals, which has been a strong complement to the 10 blocked shots produced by Colton Iverson.

Marcus Walker erupted for a game-high 31 points against Northern Colorado, easily the catalyst for the 11-point win over the Bears at home earlier this week. Walker converted 9-of-18 from the field, 3-of-6 beyond the arc and 10- of-13 chances at the free-throw line in the triumph, followed by Andy Ogide, who nearly pulled off his second double-double in as many games with 13 points and nine rebounds. CSU left a few doors open for UNC with just 5-of-17 shooting from beyond the arc and 22-of-32 at the charity stripe, but the Rams made up for it with 23 forced turnovers. Walker is picking up where he left off a season ago when he was one of the more dominating offensive players in the Mountain West Conference, scoring 24 ppg through the first two contests. Taking care of the glass is Ogide, who has come up with 16.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg, despite fouling out of one contest thus far. Although it more than likely won't carry on for much longer, the team's 85 ppg has to be an encouraging sign, especially as Ogide has knocked down a sizzling 70.6 percent of his field goal chances.

The Rams have benefited from their first two opponents shooting only 26.5 percent behind the three-point line and 56.5 percent at the free-throw line, but hopefully Walker and Ogide won't have to hope for such a performance out of the Golden Gophers tonight.

Predicted Outcome

Colorado State 75, Minnesota 68