University of Minnesota Athletics
Fast Break: Vanderbilt
12/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SERIES, ETC.
Tonight's 56-52 victory was just the fifth all-time meeting, and the Gophers have won all five games. Tonight's game was the first meeting at a neutral site, and the first game between the programs since December 5, 1959. Head coach Richard Pitino is 1-0 against Vanderbilt, and 3-1 against SEC foes, while Minnesota now stands at 17-11 against current members of the SEC (excluding vacated games). Coach Pitino's fourth-year record at Minnesota now stands at 58-52, and his five-year career mark is 76-66. Minnesota is 7-1 for the first time since 2012-13, when the Gophers started 15-1.
GOPHERS IN SIOUX FALLS
Minnesota played its second game at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, and just its third-ever game in the state of South Dakota. Last season, the Gophers dropped a 62-60 decision against Oklahoma State in Sioux Falls. The only other time Minnesota played in South Dakota was on Dec. 8, 1941, when the Gophers defeated the University of South Dakota, 56-35.
STARTING FIVE
Coach Pitino utilized a starting lineup of juniors Nate Mason and Reggie Lynch, sophomores Dupree McBrayer and Jordan Murphy, and true freshman Amir Coffey. Mason made his team-leading 41st career start in Maroon and Gold, while Murphy was in the starting lineup for the 28th time and McBrayer made his 22nd start. Lynch, a redshirt junior who transferred from Illinois State, has started seven games for the Gophers, while Coffey made his eighth career start.
BORN TO RUN
Minnesota has had important scoring runs in every game this season, and tonight was no exception. The Gophers fell behind Vanderbilt, 14-2, at the start of the game. But Minnesota scored 13 straight points to take its first lead, 15-14, as part of an 18-3 run that gave the Gophers their largest lead of the first half, 20-17. Trailing by one at the break, Minnesota opened the second half on a 15-2 run to take a 12-point lead, 39-27. But the Commodores rallied to recapture the lead, and stretched it to 50-44 before Minnesota closed the game on a 12-2 run to post the four-point win.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR MURPHY
Jordan Murphy recorded his third double-double of the season (12th career), as he led the Gophers with 16 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Murphy's previous best this season had been 12 rebounds each in his first two double-doubles. Murphy was the lone Minnesota player to reach duoble-figures, and he made 8-of-17 field goal attempts in the game.
ASSIST RATIO
Minnesota had five assists on 10 field goals in the opening 20 minutes, and trailed by one point at the half. But, in the second half, the Gophers had assists on 10-of-13 field goals as they rallied to win the game and improve to 7-1 for the first time under head coach Richard Pitino. Dupree McBrayer led Minnesota with a game-high six assists, while Nate Mason dished out five assists to increase his team-leading total to 41 this season.
POINTS IN THE PAINT
The Gophers controlled the paint against Vanderbilt, outscoring the Commodores 34-8. In addition to Jordan Murphy's impact (16 pts., 14 reb.), Minnesota had strong efforts inside by Reggie Lynch, who had six blocked shots, five rebounds and four points, and Bakary Konate, who finished with seven rebounds, five points and two blocks. Eric Curry added six points and three boards. Curry and Konate helped the Gophers to a 14-8 advantage in bench points.
