University of Minnesota Athletics

Wednesday, March 9
7:30 PM

University of Minnesota

13-17,4-16Big Ten

51
vs
60

Penn State

13-16,7-13Big Ten

1
2
F
Minnesota
28
23
51
Penn St.
24
36
60
Johnson Ben, team
Photo by: Brad Rempel

Gophers Fall to Penn State to End Season

3/9/2022 10:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Jalen Pickett hit three 3-pointers on his way to 22 points and Penn State defeated Minnesota 60-51 in the first round of the Big Ten Conference tournament on Wednesday night. Jamison Battle scored eight points to help 14th-seeded Minnesota take a 28-24 lead at halftime. 

Penn State (13-16), the 11th seed, took its first lead of the second half at 33-32 on a 3-pointer by Seth Lundy with 16:32 remaining. Battle sank two free throws to get the Golden Gophers within 51-47 with 6:39 left, but Pickett answered with a 3-pointer.

Eric Curry had a rebound basket to cut Minnesota's deficit to five with 4:13 to go, but John Harrar had a layup, Pickett hit a jumper and Sam Sessoms made two foul shots in a 6-0 run to wrap up the win for the Nittany Lions. Sessoms finished with 14 points for PSU, while Lundy scored 11. Harrar had 12 rebounds to go with six points.

Battle topped the Golden Gophers (13-17) with 19 points. Curry, Sean Sutherlin and Payton Willis all scored 10. Penn State led the Big Ten in scoring defense, yielding 66.2 points per game, and beat Minnesota for the first time in five tries in the conference tourney. The Nittany Lions advance to play No. 6 seed Ohio State in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Notes
-Jamison Battle wrapped up a stellar sophomore season by leading the Gophers with 19 points and six rebounds, as he reached the 500-point milestone for the season. Battle made 7-of-15 field goals, including 3-of-8 from three-point range, as he recorded his team-high 27th game in double-figures. Battle ends the season with 507 points scored (17.5 ppg) in 29 games.
-Seniors Payton Willis, Eric Curry, Sean Sutherlin, Luke Loewe, and Eylijah Stephens all played their final collegiate game tonight. Willis, Curry and Sutherlin each had 10 points for the Gophers, who utilized just six players in tonight's game.


 

Team Stats

MINN
PSU
FG%
.370
.440
3FG%
.263
.364
FT%
.750
.800
RB
26
37
TO
5
10
STL
6
5

Game Leaders

Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0

Players Mentioned

Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Gophers Visit the State Fair
Tuesday, September 02
Gophers on Lake Minnetonka
Monday, August 04
Coach Medved Recaps Summer Workouts
Thursday, July 31
Coach Medved on BTN
Thursday, July 10