University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNESOTA STRUGGLES IN LOSS AT ILLINOIS
1/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Minnesota Golden Gophers opened their Big Ten basketball schedule with a 76-53 loss at seventh-ranked Illinois, Wednesday night in Champaign, Ill., in front of 16,500 fans. The Gophers were led by Michael Bauer's 16 points and four rebounds. It was the first time the sophomore had led Minnesota in scoring since he paced the Golden Gophers in their first three contests.
After the Illini (12-2 overall, 1-0 in the Big Ten) scored the opening basket of the game, the Golden Gophers went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, capped by a Dusty Rychart jumper. But Illinois responded with a 24-7 run of its own to open up a 30-19 advantage. Minnesota (7-5, 0-1) faced a 34-25 deficit at halftime, despite eight points from both Bauer and Jerry Holman. Holman wound up with 10 points.
The second half continued to see Minnesota struggle as the Illini put together a 15-2 run opening a 49-31 lead with 12:54 remaining. Illinois held nearly a 20-point advantage for the remainder of the contest, handing Minnesota its sixth consecutive road loss, dating back to last season.
Travarus Bennett, who was coming off a 15 point/10 rebound performance versus Texas Tech, led Minnesota with seven rebounds to go along with his six points.
Illinois was led by Brian Cook's 16 points and eight caroms. Cory Bradford and Robert Archibald each added 14 points.
The Gophers return to Williams Arena, where they are 7-1 this season, to take on Michigan State Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game can be seen locally on KSTC Ch. 45.
