University of Minnesota Athletics
Michigan Pulls Away From Gophers In Second Half
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jamal Abu-Shamala scored a career-high 27 points but Minnesota lost 62-51 to Michigan this afternoon at Williams Arena. The Wolverines held Minnesota to 21 second half points to improve to 19-10, 7-7 while the Gophers fell to 9-20, 3-12.
Abu-Shamala and Dan Coleman combined to score 41 of Minnesota's 51 points and 13 of the Gophers' 15 field goals. The duo made 13-of-23 field goals but the rest of the team managed just 2-of-24 from the floor. Dion Harris led Michigan with 15 points while Lester Abram and Ekpe Udoh had 14 apiece. The Wolverines' held the Gophers' leading scorer, Lawrence McKenzie, without a point on 0-10 shooting.
After Abu-Shamala made a slashing layup with 13:34 left in the game to trim Michigan's lead to 47-43, the Wolverines began to take control of the game. A 6-0 run capped by a Udoh jump hook gave Michigan a game-high 10-point lead at 53-43. Abu-Shamala made a pair of free throws to bring the Gophers within eight but Michigan scored the next seven points to take a commanding 60-45 lead with 4:56 left. The Gophers scored the final four points of the game to trim the final deficit to 11.
Abu-Shamala sparked an early 11-8 Minnesota lead, scoring all 11 points with three three-pointers and a jumper. Michigan scored the next six points to take a 14-13 lead with 11:09 remaining in the first half. A Coleman dunk brought the Minnesota lead back to three at 19-16 with 7:37 left. Abram knotted the game with a three-point play but Coleman took the Gopher lead back to three with a basket with 5:46 left. Minnesota led 28-25 after another Abu-Shamala three with 2:38 left. The Wolverines scored eight of the final 10 points of the half to lead 33-30 at the intermission. Abu-Shamala scored 18 points in the half on 6-of-7 from the floor.
Abu-Shamala's 27 points is a season-high by a Minnesota player in Big Ten play. He made 8-of-13 field goals and 5-of-8 threes. Coleman scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The Gophers shot just 32 percent for the game and just 22 percent in the second half. Michigan shot just 42 percent but held a 35-30 rebounding advantage.
Minnesota wraps up the regular season at Purdue on Wednesday night. The game tips at 7 p.m. and will air live on FSN North.
