University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Postgame Notes: Oklahoma State
12/22/2019 9:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SERIES, ETC.
Tonight's 86-66 win was the eighth all-time meeting between Minnesota and Oklahoma State, with the Gophers leading the series, 5-3. It was Minnesota's first back-to-back wins scoring 80-plus points since wins over Iowa (92-87) and Illinois (86-75) last January 27-30. Minnesota improved to 6-5 overall, while Oklahoma State fell to 8-3 overall. Coach Richard Pitino improved to 2-1 against the Cowboys and 2-3 versus current Big 12 foes. Minnesota now stands at 1,493-1,118 all-time (not counting vacated games). Coach Pitino's seventh-year record at Minnesota is 118-97, and his eight-year career mark is 136-111.
STARTING FIVE
Coach Pitino utilized a starting lineup of senior Alihan Demir (10th start at Minnesota, 65th career start), redshirt sophomore Marcus Carr (11th start at Minnesota, 38th career start), sophomore Gabe Kalscheur (47th career start), sophomore Daniel Oturu (42nd career start), and true freshman Tre' Williams (first career start).
FIRST HALF RECAP
Minnesota built a 1-points halftime lead, 46-31, as Gabe Kalscheur almost topped his career-high (25 points vs Santa Clara, 11/20/18) in the first half alone. Kalscheur connected on 8-of-10 first-half field goals (5-of-6 treys) to account for 24 of Minnesota's 46 points. Daniel Oturu added 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, as the Gophers combined to make 18-of-28 (.643) field goals and 7-of-11 (.636) three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
KALSCHEUR SIZZLES
Gabe Kalscheur had a career night for the Gophers, as he knocked down 11-of-14 field goals (7-of-9 three-pointers) to finish with 34 points in 33 minutes. It marked the second consecutive game that a Gophers player went for 30-plus points, as Marcus Carr had a career-best 35 points during Sunday's win against No. 3 Ohio State. The last time Minnesota had back-to-back games with a 30-point scorer was last season, when Amir Coffey had 31 points at Northwestern on Feb. 28 and followed with 32 points versus Purdue on March 5.
OTURU DOMINATES
Daniel Oturu had his way inside, as he made 10-of-12 field goal attempts and finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Over his past four games, Oturu has combined to make 35-of-47 (.745) field goals. Oturu has recorded six double-doubles this season, including in three of his past five games.
CARR HAS SOLID ALL-AROUND EFFORT
Marcus Carr didn't follow his 35-point game against Ohio State with another huge scoring output, but he did have a solid all-around game, as he finished the night with nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Over his past four games, Carr is averaging 17.5 points and 7.8 assists per game.