University of Minnesota Athletics
Fast Break: Harvard
12/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SERIES, ETC.
This afternoon's 65-55 victory was the first all-time meeting between Minnesota and Harvard. Minnesota improved to 12-3 on the season, finishing its non-conference schedule at 11-2, while Harvard fell to 5-8. Head coach Richard Pitino is 1-0 against the Crimson, and 1-0 against Ivy League foes, while Minnesota now stands at 1,462-1,085 all-time (not counting vacated games). Coach Pitino's fifth-year record at Minnesota is 87-64, and his six-year career mark is 105-78.
STARTING FIVE
Coach Pitino utilized a starting lineup of senior Reggie Lynch, juniors Jordan Murphy and Dupree McBrayer, sophomore Amir Coffey, and true freshman Isaiah Washington. Murphy was in the starting lineup for the 69th consecutive time, while McBrayer started his 47th career game. Lynch, who transferred from Illinois State, has now started 48 games for the Gophers (98 career), while Coffey made his 48th career start. Washington started his second career game in place of Nate Mason (lower leg).
JELLY HITS THE BOARDS
Isaiah Washington just missed his first career double-double, as he grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to lead all players and added nine points. Washington's 13 boards were the most by a freshman at Minnesota since Jordan Murphy had 14 rebounds versus Rutgers on Feb. 23, 2016. Over his past two games, Washington has grabbed 21 rebounds.
GOPHERS CONTINUE IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
For the third straight game, the Gophers fared well at the charity stripe, as they connected on 18-of-20 (.900) attempts. Minnesota's 83.3 percent (55-of-66) at the line the past three games is well above its season percentage of 71.8 (270-of-376).
HOME SWEET HOME
Minnesota continued its six-game home stand with today's win versus the Crimson, improving to 9-1 at The Barn this season. The Gophers wrap up the homestand with games versus Illinois (Jan. 3) and Indiana (Jan. 6) before heading back on the road to face Northwestern on Jan. 10.
MURPHY JOINS TOP 10 REBOUNDING CLUB
Jordan Murphy finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 15th-straight double-double to start the season (36th career). Murphy, who leads the nation in double-doubles and rebounds this season, was just 3-of-12 from the field, but made all seven of his free throw attempts, while adding an assist and a blocked shot. Murphy's 12 boards increased his career total to 738, which ranks seventh all-time at Minnesota. He entered today's game ranked 11th, but moved past Randy Breuer (730), Dusty Rychart (732), Larry Mikan (735) and Randy Carter (736). Murphy has averages of 19.1 points and 12.6 rebounds per game this season.
COFFEY CONTINUES DOUBLE-FIGURE STREAK
Amir Coffey finished with 12 points and stretched his streak of double-figure scoring games to 10-straight (35 career), while also leading the team with five assists and grabbing four rebounds. Coffey is averaging 14.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
McBRAYER RETURNS TO LINEUP, LEADS TEAM
Dupree McBrayer returned to the starting lineup after missing the past two games with a lower leg injury, and he paced the Gophers with 15 points versus Harvard. McBrayer connected on 4-of-8 field goals, including 3-of-6 trifectas, while going 4-of-4 at the line. He added four rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes. It was McBrayer's 29th career double-figure scoring game.
LYNCH ADDS TO BLOCKS TOTAL
Reigning B1G Defensive Player of the Year Reggie Lynch finished the game with eight rebounds, six points and four blocked shots. His four blocks increased his season total to 59 (3.9 per game), while he now has 173 in two years with the Gophers, which ranks fifth all-time. Throw in his two seasons at Illinois State, and Lynch now has 362 career blocked shots.
