University of Minnesota Athletics

Monday, February 20
Urbana-Champaign, IL
8:00 PM

University of Minnesota

7-18,1-14Big Ten

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at
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Illinois

18-9,9-7Big Ten

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Minnesota294069
Illinois354378
NCAA Basketball: Minnesota at Illinois
Photo by: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Battle Scores 31 in Loss at Illinois

2/20/2023 10:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Jamison Battle led Minnesota with a season-high 31 points, Dawson Garcia had 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Joshua Ola-Joseph added 11 points, but RV/NR Illinois (18-9, 9-7 B1G) recorded a 76-69 win over the Gophers Monday night at State Farm Center. The point total for Battle was his biggest output since scoring 39 points at Maryland on March 2, 2022.
 
Garcia opened the game with two early layups, as the Gophers trailed 8-6 early, but Illinois stretched the lead to 19-8 with an 11-2 run. Minnesota answered with a 6-0 run, including a pair of jumpers from Battle, to cut it to 19-14 with 7:35 remaining in the half. Illinois answered with a 7-0 run for its largest lead, 26-14. The Gophers fought back, outscoring the Illini 15-6 over a four-minute span to cut the deficit to 32-29 with 1:18 left before the break, and Illinois took a 35-29 lead to the locker room. Garcia made 6-of-10 first half field goals to lead Minnesota with 12 points, while Battle had nine points, and Ola-Joseph added eight.
 
The Illini opened the second half with an 8-0 run, opening up a 14-point lead that grew to as many as 16, as Illinois made 7-of-15 three-pointers in the second half. Battle scored 22 points in the second half, including three of his four three-pointers. He finished the night 11-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-9 from behind the arc, and 5-of-5 at the line, while adding six rebounds and three assists.

Minnesota continues its week with the second of three road games in five days when it faces Maryland on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 6:00 p.m. CDT on BTN.

 
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