Rutgers Falls to Gophers
February 23, 2016

Count the University of Minnesota basketball team among those glad that the Big Ten added Maryland and Rutgers to the conference. Without those two, the Gophers would be winless in the Big Ten.

Fresh after upsetting Maryland at home, Minnesota took advantage over a weakened Rutgers squad and pummeled the Scarlet Knights, 83-61, at Williams Arena February 23. Rutgers arrived minus suspended starters Deshawn Freeman and Corey Sanders plus injured 6-9 center Greg Lewis.

The handicapped Knights nevertheless took a 19-10 lead over the Gophers on a layup basket by Oman Grier. It looked as if Minnesota was off to another in a series of anemic performances that led to a 0-13 record prior to Maryland. But both teams began throwing the ball away without provocation, and in the course of scrambling about, the Gophers cut the lead to 21-18 with six and one-half minutes left in the half.

A basket by Nate Mason put the Gophers up by 25-24, but Rutgers took the lead at 31-30 on a three-point basket by Justin Goode as the half was winding down. The Red Knights 10th turnover of the half set the stage for another Mason basket, and Minnesota took a 32-31 lead into the halftime locker room.

Most of the announced crowd of 10,333 could only marvel at the ineptitude of the two teams. Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan started four guards and threw up a match-up zone defense that mystified the Gophers, but the Knights could not find the basket and lost the lead. It seemed as though neither team wanted to win.

Whatever coach Richard Pitino told the Gophers at the half, it seemed to work. Senior Joey King was inserted into the lineup, and his basket gave Minnesota a 41-32 lead. Pitino ditched 6-11 starting center Bakary Konate and went with a smaller lineup that outraced Rutgers to the ball. Soon the lead was 57-40, and the Red Knights were cooked. Rutgers had no answer for King, Mason, and freshman power forward Justin Murphy who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Rutgers threw the ball away 11 more times in the second half and took on the appearance of a high school team. Minnesota, meanwhile was slightly more elegant, especially in the second half. The lead mounted to 75-54 on an Ahmad Gilbert three-point basket en route to the final 83-61 score.

A glance at Rutgers’ record shows a 73-67 loss to something called Monmouth plus 34-point losses to Nebraska and Michigan State later in their winless conference season. Minnesota’s record is only slightly better, but, on the floor at Williams Arena against the Red Knights, the Gophers were superior.

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