University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Breezes Into Quarterfinals, 76-55
3/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sixth-seeded Minnesota played well from start-to-finish in coasting to a 76-55 win over 11th-seeded Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Golden Gophers (19-12) recorded their third win this season against the Nittany Lions (11-20), and improved to 7-5 all-time in the opening round of the conference tournament.
Sophomore guard Devoe Joseph led the Gophers with 15 points against Penn State, making 6-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Sophomore center Colton Iverson connected on all five of his field goal attempts to finish with 12 points off the bench, while senior forward Damian Johnson (11 points) and senior guard Lawrence Westbrook (10 points) also reached double figures for the Gophers.
Minnesota jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, as Joseph tallied five quick points to key the surge, and the Gophers' defense held Penn State scoreless for the first 3:09. After the Nittany Lions responded with a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game, junior forward Paul Carter made a three-pointer to begin a 14-2 run, opening a 21-9 lead.
The Gophers twice led by as many as 15 points in the first half before Penn State rallied with a 7-1 spurt over the final 4:33 to cut Minnesota's lead to nine points, 29-20, at the break. Joseph had 10 points at the half, and Johnson added nine.
Penn State cut the lead to eight points, 33-25, early in the second half, before Minnesota broke the game open with an 18-4 run over a six-minute, five-second stretch to take a 51-29 lead at the 12:39 mark. The Nittany Lions never threatened the rest of the way, as Minnesota built its lead to as many as 27 points before finishing with the 76-55 win.
The victory was Minnesota's 11th of 20-plus points this season, ranking only behind the 1902-03 team (12 during a 13-0 season) for blowout wins in a single season. In addition, the Golden Gophers became just the fifth team to win a Big Ten Tournament game by 20 or more points.
For the game, the Gophers made 29-of-50 (.580) field goals, including 9-of-19 (.474) from long-distance. Over the past two games, Minnesota has made 21-of-38 (.553) treys in posting decisive wins versus Iowa (88-53) and PSU. The Nittany Lions, who won last season's NIT, were held to just 18-of-46 (.391) field goals, which included just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc, and turned the ball over 14 times.
To be fair, Penn State was playing without its top scorer at full strength, as Talor Battle injured his right ankle during Wednesday's practice. Battle, who entered the game ranked second in the Big Ten with an average of 18.8 points per game, was one of four Nittany Lions to score 10 points against the Gophers, but he was held to just 3-of-6 field goals and was in noticeable pain throughout the game.
Junior guard Blake Hoffarber was 2-for-4 from three-point range in the game to increase his career total to 193 treys, moving past Michael Bauer (191 during 2000-04) and into first on Minnesota's career list. Sophomore forward Ralph Sampson III finished with eight points and a team-high five rebounds, while senior guard Devron Bostick came off the bench to score seven points.
The victory sets up a Friday night matchup against third-seeded Michigan State (24-7), a team the Gophers lost to twice this season, but only by a combined eight points. The Spartans rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to escape with a 65-64 win on Jan. 23 at Williams Arena, and also recorded a 60-53 win against the Gophers on Jan. 13 in East Lansing.
Friday's game against Michigan State is set to tip off 25 minutes after the completion of the Purdue-Northwestern game, which will start at 5:30 p.m. (Central). The Gophers' game will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network.
