University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Purdue
Minnesota Outlasts Purdue, 62-58
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Andre Hollins scored 18 points and Minnesota held Purdue scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half in a 62-58 victory on Saturday.
Joey King added 11 for the Golden Gophers (15-9, 4-7 Big Ten), who broke the game open with a 21-2 run coming out of the break. The Gophers forced eight of Purdue's season-high 23 turnovers during the surge, and then held on for dear life.
Jon Octeus had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Boilermakers (15-9, 7-4), who saw their four-game winning streak snapped. Purdue missed 12 of its first 13 shots of the second half and trailed 48-33. But they hit seven 3-pointers in the final 9:35 to cut the deficit to two points before falling just short.
Hollins and Carlos Morris keyed the offensive outburst for the Gophers after they shot just 32 percent in the first half. The pair each scored seven points during the game-deciding run and provided the defensive pressure in the backcourt that gave the Gophers a 48-33 lead with under 10 minutes to play.
The Boilermakers made a game of it when things appeared to be spinning out of control. P.J. Thompson hit a 3-pointer, Octeus banked in another one and A.J. Hammons threw down a dunk and scored on a putback to trim a 15-point deficit to seven with 6:47 to play.
Kendall Stephens added another 3 90 seconds later to make it 53-49 and Octeus's fourth 3 of the game made it 60-58 with 1:01 to play.
But the Gophers got one more big stop in the closing seconds when Mo Walker blocked Vince Edwards' drive to the hoop - Purdue coach Matt Painter thought he was fouled - and Hollins made two free throws to seal a much-needed win.
The Gophers led by eight points midway through the first half and were hitting 50 percent of their shots when the bottom fell out. They managed just one field goal in the final 9:08 of the half and missed seven straight shots during a seven-minute drought that let the Boilermakers back in the game.
The Boilermakers deserve some credit for that. They entered the game leading the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 39 percent shooting. Hammons was swatting everything in sight
TIP-INS
Minnesota: Walker had 11 points and five rebounds. ... The Gophers shot 46 percent in the second half and committed just eight turnovers.
UP NEXT
Minnesota visits Iowa on Thursday.
