University of Minnesota Athletics
Nebraska Downs Men's Basketball 77-60
12/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Nebraska outscored Minnesota 46-28 in the second half en route to a 77-60 victory this evening at Williams Arena. The Cornhuskers shot a blistering 52 percent from the field and hit 11-of-20 three-pointers in the game to end Minnesota's seven-game home court win streak.
The Gophers suffered from cold shooting for the second straight game, hitting for a season-low 33.3 percent from the floor (21-63). They also made just 5-of-24 three-pointers in the game.
The Gophers opened up an early 15-11 lead on a three-point play by Stan Gaines but Nebraska scored four quick points to tie at 15-15 with 8:28 left in the first half. Minnesota went up 19-15 on two free throws by Kris Humphries but the Cornhuskers followed with a 16-6 run to take its largest lead of the half at 31-25 with 2:27 left. Minnesota scored the final seven points of the half on a basket by Gaines, a trey by Ben Johnson and a dunk by Kris Humphries to lead 32-31 at the intermission.
The game went back-and-forth to start the second half. A Tony Wilbrand layup tied the game at 43-43 with 13:15 left in the game. It started a 24-6 run that gave the Huskers a 67-49 lead with 5:04 to go. At one point during the run, the Huskers made six consecutive three-pointers, including three by Brian Conklin. Conklin was 5-6 from three-point land in the game and had 17 points. The Gophers continued to struggle from the field and were unable to trim the margin under 14 points the rest of the way.
Humphries posted his Big Ten leading seventh double-double of the year with 21 points and 10 rebounds but made just 6-19 field goals. Maurice Hargrow added 14 points and Ben Johnson 11. Michael Bauer became the 32nd Golden Gopher to record 1,000 career points in the game. He had four points and five rebounds on the night.
Nate Johnson led Nebraska with 25 points.
Minnesota heads to Lubbock, Texas to face Texas Tech on New Year's Day. The 1 p.m. game will be televised on ESPN.
Post-Game Notes
Minnesota is 44-14 all-time in non-conference games under Dan Monson. The Golden Gophers are 38-5 in non-conference games at Williams Arena under Dan Monson. This is just the third home regular season non-conference loss under Monson (12/4/01 vs. UNC Wilmington; 12/28/02 vs. Texas Tech).
The 17-point loss is the largest home defeat since an 82-62 loss to Penn State on Feb. 14, 2001.
Michael Bauer became the 32nd player in Minnesota history to score 1,000 points in a career. He has 1,003 for his career.
Kris Humphries has scored in double figures every game this season.
Humphries scored 20+ points for the fourth straight game and the eighth time this season.
Humphries has seven double-doubles this season - leads the Big Ten.
Maurice Hargrow scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and the 34th time in his career.
The loss snaps a four-game winning streak and seven-game home winning streak.
Ben Johnson scored in double figures for the fifth time this season and the 11th time in his career at Minnesota.
The crowd of 12,552 is the largest this season.
Minnesota lost for the first time this season when leading at the half (5-1).
Minnesota shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the field.
Post-Game Quotes
Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson
"We talked about this week being a week where we are going to find out a lot about this team. And we have found out that we have a lot of issues to address."
"The first half we scrapped and got to the loose balls. I thought we play hard and stayed tough. But then in the second half we fell asleep on the inbound plays and got outplayed for four to five straight minutes. They just outplayed us. It is that simple. They got all the loose balls and made the plays they needed to win. That is disheartening and isn't going to be easy to fix."
"They got into a flow and did what they needed to finish the game off. This is a coaching issue and we have to do a better job as coaches to get out guys better prepared and ready to come out and play. We didn't show much poise when we got behind."
" We were forcing things in the second half and weren't shooting the ball very well. We have to get our good shooters shooting the ball better. We don't have a starter shooting 50 percent."
Nebraska Head Coach Barry Collier
"We shot very well in the first half. The problem we had was I thought that their pressure bothered us a lot more then it should have. We were turning the ball over way too easily and we hurt by foul trouble. At one point in the first half I thought all 12,000 people would walk out because both teams were turning the ball over so much."
"The second half was a different story for our team. We made the adjustment to go to a zone to open the half to help stay out of foul trouble and to cut off their drives to the basket. They did not shoot well in the first half, but they really hurt us with their penetration."
"We did a great job of forcing them into tough shots in the second half and that really helped us pull away. Despite our foul trouble we played a lot more poised in the second half and had far less turnovers. Our bench also came up huge for us."
"We made some really tough shots in the second half. To shoot like we did on the road in a tough place like this really gives us a confidence boost for the rest of the season."
"We try not to make any game we play monumental, but I do have to say that I am really happy with the type of game we played tonight and how well we shot on the road. We also limited a team that was shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc to a 5-24 shooting night. You can't ask for much more."
Minnesota freshman forward Kris Humphries
"It was frustrating. They made six straight threes - we can't win with defense like that. I think that was the most frustrating thing. The first half we played decently. We didn't have the same intensity in the second half."
"That was our plan [to exploit them down low], but we never got around to it. We had our hands full on the other end. They got quick shots and then we panicked. We let the game play to their strengths."
Minnesota junior guard A dam Boone
On Nebraska's three-point shooting
"We knew we had to get a stop, but we didn't. That stretch [of six straight threes] defined the game."
"It's tough to turn around from these last two games, but as a competitor that's the number one thing you want to do. We have our backs against the wall going to Texas Tech. we have to show what we are made of. We have to come in with fire and aggressiveness when we need to."
Minnesota senior forward Michael Bauer
On his 1,000th career point "For my career, it's very humbling to look at others on that list and be included in that group. It is an honor. At the same time, to get it on a day like today, when the team didn't do well, is a little disappointing."
