Tariq Francis scored 29 points and shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range as No. 14 seed Rutgers finished strong for a 72-67 win over No. 11 seed Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament’s second round on Wednesday in Chicago.
Jamichael Davis finished with 13 points and six assists for Rutgers (14-18), which advances to face sixth-seeded UCLA in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Emmanuel Ogbole scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
Cade Tyson scored 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting to lead Minnesota (15-17). Bobby Durkin finished with 15 points and made four 3-pointers, and Grayson Grove chipped in 10 points.
Rutgers avenged a 19-point loss against Minnesota on Feb. 21.
The Scarlet Knights trailed 31-29 at halftime but outscored the Golden Gophers 43-36 in the second half to secure the victory.
Minnesota seized a five-point lead when Langston Reynolds drove to the rim for a layup with 9:49 to go.
Rutgers responded with a 13-2 run to seize a 60-54 lead. Dylan Grant made a turnaround jump shot to start the surge, which included two free throws by Francis, a 3-pointer by Davis, a driving layup by Darren Buchanan Jr., a jump shot by Francis and another layup by Buchanan.
Minnesota fell behind by as many as 11 points when Harun Zrno made a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Tyson knocked down two 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds, but by then it was too late.
Ogbole was assessed a flagrant-1 foul early in the second half. He had the ball in the paint and swung his elbow into the face of Minnesota defender Grayson Grove.
Grove fell to the court after taking the elbow but quickly bounced back to his feet. Officials reviewed the play on video before upgrading the foul call to a flagrant-1 violation.
Rutgers finished with a 21-3 advantage in bench points against Minnesota, which played only six players because of injuries that affected much of its roster depth.
–Field Level Media
