Exhibition Tuesday at Minnesota

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. --- Larry Gipson and Tubby Smith have combined for nearly 1,000 college basketball victories in their careers. In Tuesday night's exhibition, neither will be adding to their respective total, but the game still has some significance.

Gipson (516-301 overall) will lead his Northeastern State RiverHawks into Williams Arena in Minneapolis for the first exhibition of the year for both squads. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. (CDT) and the game will be aired live on GoRiverHawksGo.com and tape-delayed on The Sports Animal (97.1 FM) in Tulsa at approximately 10 p.m.

Even though the official opening date for NCAA teams is some two weeks away, both squads will be looking to the exhibition as a barometer of sorts for their preseason drills.

"We are really looking forward to the challenge of playing a game with a Big Ten school in a Big Ten atmosphere,” said Gipson, who is 231-141 in 14 seasons at Northeastern State. “I am good friends with Tubby Smith and Joe Esposito (Gophers’ Director of Basketball Operations) and through conversations with them we were fortunate enough to have them offer us the chance to come and play.

“Games of this caliber can help us become tougher and a more competitive team in our division.”

Northeastern State has three starters returning from last year's 20-9 squad that was ousted in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament to Midwestern State. Dominique Gaines, last year's leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, is back for his senior season. He will be joined in the backcourt by senior Antoine Branch, who put in 11.0 points per outing a year ago. Ethan Anderson (guard) and Jesse Scroggins (forward) were part-time starters in 2009-10.

Gone, however, are center Jason Jones and guard Marlon Burnett. This duo combined for 27 points and over 14 rebounds from a year ago. Even more critical is the RiverHawks have no answer for a Minnesota lineup that features four players at 6-10 or 6-11. Juco transfer Jermaine Bransford is the biggest player on the Northeastern State roster at 6-7.

Smith has coached three seasons at Minnesota and has 450 wins in his career. He is 63-39 as the Golden Gophers' mentor and last year led his team to their first championship tilt in the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time and has three starters returning this season.

Ralph Sampson III, a 6-11 junior, is back at center and has averaged seven points and five rebounds over two seasons. A talented pair of guards, Blake Hoffarber, and Devoe Joseph also return to the Gophers. Hoffarber, a senior, averaged 10 points and converted 42 percent of his 3-point field goals. Joseph, a junior, averaged nine points a year ago.

Jeff Konya, Northeastern State's director of athletics, says the game will be a memorable one for the RiverHawks.

“Having the opportunity to play an NCAA Division I opponent, coached by (Tubby Smith) one of the most tenured and successful basketball coaches in the history of the game, is something our student-athletes will remember for a lifetime,” he said.