After a deflating loss in Wednesday’s top-15 battle versus the Miami Hurricanes, the Minnesota Golden Gophers had no time to feel sorry for themselves.
A much-improved Rutgers Scarlet Knights team coming to Williams Arena for the beginning of conference play demanded that No. 12 Minnesota rediscover its moxie, and fast.
The Golden Gophers did just that, pulling away in the second half for a 89-67 victory.
Minnesota (8-1, 1-0) held Rutgers to 32 percent shooting in the win and got 26 points and seven assists from Nate Mason. Reggie Lynch finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, while Jordan Murphy recorded 18 points and 16 rebounds to extend his double-double streak to nine games.
“To win by 22 in this league is hard to do,” said head coach Richard Pitino, “so I’m happy with it.”
With the Big Ten altering its schedule to play a pair of conference games before Christmas, Pitino said Saturday that he expected to see some sloppier play across the Big Ten.
Sunday’s matinee certainly contained some helter-skelter basketball as Pitino predicted.
Rutgers (6-2, 0-1) got the game’s first 10 offensive rebounds thanks to a high volume of missed inside shots. By game’s end, the two teams committed 28 turnovers and were charged with 40 fouls.
“I think that Rutgers, they play hard, they make you look ugly at times,” said Pitino, “but I do think that we can get a lot better. Normally December is a month to get better.”
The game’s decisive run came with under eight minutes to go as the Gophers used Isaiah Washington’s 3-pointer and Mason’s four consecutive free throws following Corey Sanders’ technical foul to take a 71-54 lead. Rutgers didn’t get closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Despite some early mishaps on the offensive glass, Minnesota’s big men wound up winning most of the battles inside as the Gophers outscored the Scarlet Knights 36-26 in the paint. Minnesota actually scrapped back to outrebound Rutgers 46-43 after the Scarlet Knights’ 11-2 start on the boards.
Mason, the senior, provided poise from the perimeter as Minnesota’s other wings struggled to find a rhythm. He got the Gophers off to a hot start in the second half with a pair of 3s and a nifty assist to Lynch in the first three minutes. Meanwhile, Amir Coffey, Washington and Dupree McBrayer combined for just 23 points.
“When Nate hits a couple 3s back-to-back, it opens up the whole entire floor,” Murphy said. “They can’t really double off Nate or Dupree or Amir or whoever’s hot. That just gives us more room to operate down low.”
McBrayer was a game-time decision after missing Wednesday’s contest with a leg infection that hospitalized him and caused him to lose 19 pounds. He scored seven points in his return.
Stats to Think About
- Minnesota’s bench scored 11 points, a modest improvement from Wednesday’s loss, when the unit didn’t score at all. Washington contributed five, Bakary Konate scored four and Michael Hurt added two.
- Lynch finished with five blocks. He’s got four-plus blocks in seven of the first nine games.
- Rutgers entered play as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten at 26.2 percent, and it didn’t improve that much, going 5 of 18 (27.8 percent).
- The Gophers finished 27 of 35 from the free-throw line, their second-most attempts of the season (38 vs Western Carolina).
Up Next
The Gophers have a quick turnaround as they head to Nebraska on Tuesday night for another conference game. The Cornhuskers lost to Michigan State by 29 points in their opener.
Listen to the Cold Omaha Staff Pod!
