Gophers junior forward Davonte Fitzgerald will start his first career game Tuesday night against Northwestern at Williams Arena.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Fitzgerald is averaging 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11 minutes a game this season.
Fitzgerald went scoreless in nine minutes in Saturday's 67-49 loss against Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. But he had his second double-figure scoring game of the season in Thursday's loss at Maryland with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting in a season-high 24 minutes off the bench.
The former Texas A&M transfer's career-best game with the Gophers was 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, to go with eight rebounds in Nov. 21 win against Alabama A&M.
An Atlanta native, Fitzgerald sat out two seasons after transferring in 2015 and suffering a season-ending knee injury last season.
The Gophers are using their eighth different starting lineup Tuesday, including the first with a small lineup of Fitzgerald at power forward and 6-7, 250-pound Jordan Murphy at center.
