Dawson Garcia led the way with 19 points and 14 rebounds as visiting Minnesota defeated Penn State 69-61 on Tuesday in a Big Ten Conference matchup from University Park, Pa.
Brennan Rigsby made all five of his shots off the bench as part of a 14-point performance for Minnesota (12-11, 4-8 Big Ten), which avoided a third straight defeat. Lu’Cye Patterson also contributed 14 points for the Golden Gophers.
D’Marco Dunn scored 18 points to pace Penn State (13-10, 3-9), which has lost eight of its last nine games. Ace Baldwin Jr. and Zach Hicks each pitched in with 11 points for the hosts.
The game started off with some dreadful shooting, as Minnesota began 3 of 14 from the field, while Penn State opened 3 of 15.
The Nittany Lions didn’t score a point in the game’s first six minutes, and the Gophers didn’t reach double figures in points until 6:20 remained in the half.
Dunn’s 3-pointer put the hosts in front 25-15 with just over two minutes left in the half, but Minnesota scored the final six points of the session to make it a four-point game at the break.
The teams combined for 20 buckets and 18 turnovers in the first half, but the second half provided a crisper offensive performance on both ends.
The Gophers finally caught up at 44 on Mike Mitchell Jr.’s 3-pointer with about 10 minutes remaining. He added another less than 90 seconds later to give the visitors their first advantage since they led 4-2 early on.
Soon thereafter, Rigsby’s 3-pointer pushed the Minnesota lead to 52-46. He added another with 2:41 left to put the Gophers ahead 63-52.
Penn State sliced its deficit to seven behind four quick points from Fred Dilione V, but Patterson’s jumper near the one-minute mark essentially sealed the outcome.
Minnesota finished at 53.1 percent shooting, including 69.6 percent in the second half. Penn State only shot 34.5 percent for the contest.
–Field Level Media
