2005–06 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the college basketball season of 2005–2006. The team's head coach, Dan Monson, was in his seventh season with the Gophers and the team played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota and are members of the Big Ten Conference.

2005–06 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
NIT Second Round vs. Cincinnati, L 76–62
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	16–15 (5–11 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dan Monson (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Vic Couch Jim Molinari Bill Walker
Home arena	Williams Arena

2005–06 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 6 Ohio State	12	–	4		.750			26	–	6		.813
No. 15 Iowa †	11	–	5		.688			25	–	9		.735
No. 13 Illinois	11	–	5		.688			26	–	7		.788
Wisconsin	9	–	7		.563			19	–	12		.613
Indiana	9	–	7		.563			19	–	12		.613
Michigan State	8	–	8		.500			22	–	12		.647
Michigan	8	–	8		.500			22	–	11		.667
Penn State	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
Northwestern	6	–	10		.375			14	–	15		.483
Minnesota	5	–	11		.313			16	–	15		.516
Purdue	3	–	13		.188			9	–	19		.321
† 2006 Big Ten tournament winner As of March 14, 2006 Rankings from AP Poll

Season

After making the NCAA tournament the previous year, the Gophers had mixed results throughout the season. The team was able to win only two games on the road, but defeated three top 20 teams at home in conference play. After losing to eventual conference tournament winner Iowa, the Gophers accepted an invitation to the NIT where they would give their home fans one final win before being defeated on the road by Cincinnati in the second round.

Roster

#	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Position	Class	Hometown	Previous Team(s)
1	Lawrence McKenzie	6'2"	180	G	Jr.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Minneapolis Henry HS Oklahoma
2	Ryan Saunders	6'1"	193	G	So.	Wayzata, MN, U.S.	Wayzata HS
3	Kevin Payton	6'5"	200	G/F	Fr.	Camden, NJ, U.S.	Camden HS
11	Maurice Hargrow	6'5"	200	G	RSr.	St. Paul, MN, U.S.	Highland Park HS
13	Dan Coleman	6'9"	225	F	RSo.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Hopkins HS
15	Vincent Grier	6'5"	210	G/F	Sr.	Charlotte, NC, U.S.	Dixie State JC
21	J'son Stamper	6'6"	235	F	Sr.	Bronx, NY, U.S.	Independence Community College
23	Brandon Smith	6'6"	205	G/F	Fr.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Minneapolis Henry HS
24	Rico Tucker	6'0"	190	G	So.	San Diego, CA, U.S.	University HS
30	Jon Williams	6'9"	275	F	RFr.	St. Cloud, MN, U.S.	St. Cloud Apollo HS Notre Dame Prep (MA)
31	Adam Boone	6'2"	200	G	RSr.	Minnetonka, MN, U.S.	Minnetonka HS North Carolina
32	Zach Puchtel	6'6"	250	F	RJr.	Minnetonka, MN, U.S.	Hopkins HS
33	Jamal Abu-Shamala	6'5"	200	G	Fr.	Shakopee, MN, U.S.	Shakopee HS
34	Damian Johnson	6'7"	192	F	Fr.	Thibodaux, LA, U.S.	Thibodaux HS
50	Spencer Tollackson	6'9"	267	C	So.	Chaska, MN, U.S.	Chaska HS

2005–06 Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 5, 2005* no		SW Minnesota State	W 59–50		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 10, 2005* 7 p.m.		Minnesota–Duluth	W 78–64		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
Regular Season
November 18, 2005* 6 p.m., FSN North		North Dakota State	W 70–57	1–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 26, 2005* 3 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		Tennessee–Chattanooga	W 67–46	2–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 28, 2005* 7 p.m., no		Gardner–Webb	L 73–72	2–1	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 30, 2005* 6:30 p.m., ESPN2		at No. 23 Maryland ACC – Big Ten Challenge	L 83–66	2–2	Comcast Center  College Park, MD
December 3, 2005* 12 p.m., no		Coastal Carolina	W 75–57	3–2	William's Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 5, 2005* 9:30 p.m., FSN		at Arizona State	W 85–79 OT	4–2	Wells Fargo Arena  Tempe, AZ
December 10, 2005* 12 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		UNLV	W 72–67	5–2	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 14, 2005* 7 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		Alabama–Birmingham	W 69–68	6–2	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 21, 2005* 7 p.m., no		Grambling State	W 88–64	7–2	William's Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 23, 2005* 7 p.m., no		South Dakota State	W 80–61	8–2	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 31, 2005* 1 p.m., no		Oral Roberts	W 67–54	9–2	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten Regular Season
January 7, 2006 1 p.m., ESPN Regional/KSTC-45		Northwestern	L 57–49	9–3 (0–1)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 10, 2006 6 p.m., ESPN		No. 21 Wisconsin	L 64–62	9–4 (0–2)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 14, 2006 7 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North-Delay		at Purdue	L 72–55	9–5 (0–3)	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, IN
January 18, 2006 7 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North-Delay		at No. 23 Iowa	L 76–72 3OT	9–6 (0–4)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena  Iowa City, IA
January 21, 2006 7 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		Michigan	L 71–55	9–7 (0–5)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 25, 2006 8 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		at No. 8 Illinois	L 77–53	9–8 (0–6)	Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
January 29, 2006 12 p.m., CBS		No. 13 Indiana	W 61–42	10–8 (1–6)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 4, 2006 2 p.m., ESPN Regional/KSTC-45		at No. 20 Ohio State	L 67–53	10–9 (1–7)	Value City Arena  Columbus, OH
February 8, 2006 7 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		at Penn State	W 77–66	11–9 (2–7)	Bryce Jordan Center  University Park, PA
February 11, 2006 1:30 p.m., ESPN Regional/KSTC-45		No. 12 Michigan State	W 69–55	12–9 (3–7)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 15, 2006 6 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		at Michigan	L 72–50	12–10 (3–8)	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, MI
February 18, 2006 3:30 p.m., ESPN Regional/KSTC-45		No. 18 Iowa	W 74–61	13–10 (4–8)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 22, 2006 8 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		Purdue	W 62–50	14–10 (5–8)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 26, 2006 1 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North		at Wisconsin	L 80–74	14–11 (5–9)	Kohl Center  Madison, WI
February 28, 2006 8 p.m., ESPN		No. 10 Illinois	L 71–65	14–12 (5–10)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
March 4, 2006 8 p.m., ESPN Regional/FSN North-Delay		at Northwestern	L 57–53	14–13 (5–11)	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, ILL
2006 Big Ten tournament
March 9, 2006 2:30 p.m., ESPN2	(10)	vs. (7) Michigan First Round	W 59–55	15–13	Conseco Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
March 10, 2006 6:40 p.m., ESPN Regional	(10)	vs. (2) No. 20 Iowa Quarterfinal	L 67–57	15–14	Conseco Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
2006 National Invitation tournament
March 15, 2006 7 p.m., ESPN2	(4 C)	(5 C) Wake Forest First Round	W 73–58	16–14	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
March 21, 2006 8 p.m., ESPN	(4 C)	at (1 C) Cincinnati Second Round	L 76–62	16–15	Fifth Third Arena  Cincinnati, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

The 2005–06 Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team was not ranked during the season.