University of Minnesota Athletics
Fast Break: St. John's
11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Quotes | Photo Gallery | USATSI Photo Gallery
SERIES, ETC.
Tonight's game was just the second all-time meeting (not counting vacated games), with the series now tied, 1-1. The Red Storm posted a 70-61 home win in an NIT Season Tip-Off semifinal at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 26, 2014. Minnesota won two games against St. John's in the mid-1990s, but both games were later vacated by the NCAA. Head coach Richard Pitino is 1-1 against SJU, and 1-1 against Big EAST Conference foes. Coach Pitino's fourth-year record at Minnesota now stands at 54-51, and his five-year career mark is 72-65. Minnesota is 4-0 for the first time since 2014-15.
STARTING FIVE
For the fourth time, Coach Pitino utilized a starting lineup of juniors Nate Mason and Reggie Lynch, sophomores Dupree McBrayer and Jordan Murphy, and freshman Amir Coffey. Mason made his team-leading 37th career start in Maroon and Gold, while Murphy was in the starting lineup for the 24th time and McBrayer made his 18th start. A redshirt junior, Lynch has started his first four games at Minnesota after transferring from Illinois State, and Coffey also made his fourth career start.
BIG RUN ONCE AGAIN SPARKS GOPHERS
Minnesota has utilized big scoring runs in all four games this season. Tonight, the Gophers found themselves facing a 22-9 deficit with 11:41 left in the half. But back-to-back three-pointers by Akeem Springs and Ahmad Gilbert sparked an 18-3 run over the next 6:38, as Minnesota took its first lead, then stretched it to a 41-31 advantage at the break. Amir Coffey played a key role in building the halftime lead, as he tallied 12 of his 17 first-half points during the rally, while Dupree McBrayer added seven and Gilbert had six. During Monday's 84-67 win against UT Arlington, the Gophers opened the second half on a 24-3 run to rally from a six-point halftime deficit. Wednesday, Minnesota used a 20-1 run over a seven-minute span to stretch a 49-42 lead to 69-43. Minnesota also had a 12-2 run to start its season-opening win against Louisiana.
NOW, THAT'S HOT COFFEY
Amir Coffey has reached double-figures in all four starts he's made for the Gophers, but tonight he accomplished the feat before halftime, as he led all players with 17-points at the break on the way to his first career 30-point game. Coffey led the Gophers with 30 points, making 9-of-14 field goals and 11-of-12 free throws. He's the first Minnesota player with 30 or more points in a game since Andre Hollins scored 31 against Rutgers on Jan. 17, 2015. More impressively, he is the first Minnesota freshman to torch the nets for 30 points since Kris Humphries in 2003-04.. Coffey added four rebounds, two steals and an assist, while logging a team-high 36 minutes.
LYNCH JUST MISSES RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Reggie Lynch narrowly missed recording a rarity - a rebound-blocked shot double-double. The 6-foot-10 Lynch entered tonight's game with six blocked shots this season, but against the Red Storm, he finished with a career-high nine blocks to go along with 11 rebounds and six points. Lynch had seven rebounds and seven blocks in the first half. He is the first Gophers player with nine blocks in a game since Colton Iverson versus Bowling Green State on Nov. 15, 2008, and Lynch is one of just five players in Minnesota history to record nine or more blocks in a game.
McBRAYER RECORDS CAREER-HIGH
Dupree McBrayer, a native of Queens, N.Y., recorded a career-high 18 points against St. John's, making 6-of-12 field goals (2-of-2 three-pointers). McBrayer, who played 35 minutes, also grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. Minnesota's backcourt was also bolstered by Nate Mason's 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds and two steals. Mason has dished out seven assists in three of the four games this season.
GOPHERS TOP 80 POINTS FOR FOURTH-STRAIGHT
Minnesota topped 80 points for the fourth-straight game to open the season. It's the first time the Gophers tallied 80-plus in four-consecutive games since a seven-game stretch in December 2014. The last time a Gophers team started a season with four-straight 80-point games was 1992-93, when Clem Haskins' team opened the season with six-straight games with 80 or more points.
