University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNESOTA DOWNS WOLVERINES 90-82
1/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Minnesota Golden Gophers earned their second consecutive Big Ten Conference victory with a 90-82 victory over the Michigan Wolverines Wednesday night in Williams Arena in front of 13,172 fans.
It was the first back-to-back league victories for the Gophers since beating Indiana and Purdue last season on Jan. 17 and 20. The win also upped Minnesota's record against Michigan to 3-0 under Head Coach Dan Monson. The Gophers have averaged 89.3 points per game in those three victories.
Minnesota (9-5 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) trailed 41-38 at halftime, but 81.8 percent shooting from the field in the second half led the Gophers to victory. Gold Country shot 69.4 percent from the field for the game, including 61.5 from three-point range. Both marks are the third-best in school history.
Seniors Dusty Rychart and Kevin Burleson led Minnesota with 19 points each. The two were a combined 14-of-20 from the field in the game. The 19 points for Burleson was a season high.
The Golden Gophers led by 14 after a fast break dunk by Michael Bauer with 6:14 at 74-62, but stellar three-point shooting by the Wolverines, along with a Gopher season-high 23 turnovers, kept it close.
Michigan (6-6, 2-1) got within four following Dommanic Ingerson's third three-pointer of the contest at 79-75 with 3:26 remaining.
Four consecutive free throws by Burleson, along with a three-pointer by Kerwin Fleming with 55 seconds left, put the Gophers up 87-80. A Fleming free throw, along with another pair from Burleson sealed the game.
Bauer added 15 points, while Jerry Holman poured in 12 for Minnesota. Bernard Robinson led Michigan with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
