The weather outside was a record setting kind of cold. Inside, the Minnesota (16-5, 6-4) offense was on fire for the second game in a row as they avenged an earlier season loss to Illinois (6-14, 2-7) by a score of 86-75.
Illinois led at the half, and went up by as much as five with sixteen minutes left. The Gophers didn't make a 3-pointer in the first half. But in the second, they made six 3-pointers and scored 49 points. They also had five players score in double figures, including two who came off the bench.
Minnesota defeated Iowa 92-87 on Sunday. In the two game homestead, the Gophers scored 178 points for an 89 point average in this newfound offensive output.
Illinois jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Trent Frazier and a put-back on an offensive rebound by Ayo Dosunmu. The Fighting Illini looked to get shots from the perimeter while hitting Giorgi Bezhanishvili on the roll of the ball screen. Minnesota on the other hand were getting touches to Jordan Murphy, but he had to fight double teams on each touch.
The lead went up to 7-2 before Dupree McBrayer hit a back-cutting Gabe Kalscheur for an and-one. Another point of emphasis from Richard Pitino was to cut against the overplay. Illinois took a 9-5 lead into the first media timeout.
Minnesota scored on their next two possessions. Daniel Oturu was back in action and converted on a pick and roll from Amir Coffey. Jordan Murphy also got a catch in the secondary break at the high post and went by Giorgi.
As the game went on, it began to resemble Sunday’s offensive explosion against Iowa. Murphy scored around the rim and McBrayer hit off of another backdoor cut. Bezhanishvili made three field goals on the other end as Illinois clung to a 17-15 lead with 11:59 left in the first.
Illinois began looking to get the ball inside to the Georgian more while Minnesota did the same when they weren’t pushing the ball transition or cutting against defensive pressure.
Minnesota tied it up at 21 with two straight buckets by Amir Coffey. They took their first lead at 23-21 with eight minutes left off of penetration by Isaiah Washington. After two straight buckets by Illinois, Washington hit a jumper for his second basket in a row. That tied the score at 25 going into the eight minute media timeout.
As Illinois pressured the Minnesota perimeter players the guards began to make plays, particularly Washington and Coffey and Murphy was the benefactor of both. Coffey hit him off the pick and roll for a dunk. Washington did the same on a fast break after McBrayer got a steal and got it to the point guard in the open floor.
With the score knotted at 29-all, Brad Underwood opted for a 2-3 zone. The Gophers gashed it on the first trip. Daniel Oturu was fouled and made one of his free throws to give Minnesota a 30-29 lead with four minutes left.
Murphy picked up his second foul with 3:08 left to join Eric Curry. The 7-foot-0 center for Illinois, Adonis Delarosa made them pay immediately on the first possession to put Illinois back ahead. Frazier added a 3-pointer on the next possession. But Minnesota had more answers from its backcourt. McBrayer and Coffey both knocked down field goals after switches created mismatches and they were picked up out on the floor by the Fighting Illini bigs.
Frazier nailed another shot, a tough mid-range floater, but Washington answered again on the other end with his own jumper from the foul line off of a crossover dribble to give the Gophers a 37-36 lead with eight seconds left. It appeared that was where it would stand going into the locker room, but the red-hot Trent Frazier rained down another 3-pointer, this time over two defenders to give Illinois a 39-37 lead at intermission.
Minnesota shot fifty percent for the half. They only took four 3-point attempts with no conversions. This was self explanatory when one takes into account the pressure that Illinois provides and how that ran the Gophers guards off the line. The were 7 of 9 from the foul line. There were also seven assists against five turnovers.
Murphy led Minnesota's scorers with 10 on 5 of 8 shooting. Coffey had 8, Washington 6, McBrayer and Oturu 4, Kalscheur 3, and Curry 2.
Murphy led the way with 5 first half rebounds and Coffey added 4 assists.
Illinois shot 47.1 percent from the filed and were 4 for 14 from behind the arc. They were 3 for 4 from the foul line. They had 7 assists and 6 turnovers. Illinois also was ahead in the rebound battle 18-16.
Minnesota's locker room discussion had to be how to slow down Trent Frazier. The point guard led all scorers with 13 points. He was 5 for 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from deep. Bezhanishvili also had 7 points.
The second half started like the first half ended. Both team's leading scorers went to work. Murphy hit a layup on the first possession, but Frazier scored five points the first two times he touched it as Illinois stretched the lead to 43-39 with eighteen minutes left.
Kalscheur hit Minnesota's first 3-pointer the next time down to draw the Gophers within one. A steal and a lay-in by Tevian Jones plus two more foul shots from Frazier gave him 19 points and the Fighting Illini a 47-42 lead at the sixteen minute media timeout.
Washington and Kalscheur both hit 3-pointers out of the break to put Minnesota back up 48-47. After a foul shot, Washington broke down the Illinois defense again and got to the rim form up top, drew the defense, and dropped a dime off to Murphy for another dunk. Kalscheur knocked down another three and gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the game at 53-48 with just under fourteen minutes left. Coffey followed that with a drive and finish, forcing Underwood to burn a time out with Minnesota up 55-48 and on a 13-1 run.
The run continued out of the timeout and the usual supporting cast were the main culprits. Coffey hit another 3-pointer and Washington scored around the rim to push the lead out to 62-53 with 9:42 remaining.
Michael Hurt got into the scoring column with a strong inside move and Delarosa picked up a flagrant one foul on the other end. Minnesota got two foul shots and the ball. Kalscheur converted both making the lead 66-53. Coffey scored again on an acrobatic and-one and added another foul shot.
Minnesota erased a 47-42 deficit with 16:08 remaining. From there, they outscored Illinois 27-6 in just over an eight-minute stretch with the score 69-53.
In the final eight minutes, both teams basicallyl swapped buckets. The lead never got below double figures as the Gophers coasted for an 86-75 victory.
There were five Minnesota players who ended up in double figures. Amir Coffey led the way with 18 points. He also had 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Jordan Murphy also put up another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Gabe Kalscheur had 14 points and got back to his 3-point shooting ways going 3 for 5. Isaiah Washington had 12 points and 4 assists against no turnovers. Daniel Oturu also got back into action after missing the Iowa game with 11 points. He was 2 for 2 from the field and 7 of 10 from the line. He also had 8 rebounds.
Dupree McBrayer added 9 points. Eric Curry had 4, and Michael Hurt had 2. Matz Stockman played and didn't score.
Minnesota shot 50 percent for the game and knocked down six 3-pointers. They were also an impressive 20 for 26 from the foul line.
But the damage was down in the second half. Along with the 49 points, they were 6 of 15 from the 3-point line for 40 percent. They were also 11 of 15 from the foul line. They also had 9 assists versus only 4 turnovers.
Illinois shot 44.8 percent from the field, and only 29.2 percent from deep. They got to the line 22 times.
If there is blame to go around on the Illinois team, it shouldn't fall on the shoulders of Trent Frazier. The point guard ended up with 30 points on 10 for 14 from the field including 5 of 9 shooting from behind the arc. Andres Feliz and Tevian Jones were the only two other players that finished in double-figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Minnesota will return to action on Sunday morning at 11:00 A.M. CST when they travel to Mackey Arena and take on the Purdue Boilermakers.
Illinois led at the half, and went up by as much as five with sixteen minutes left. The Gophers didn't make a 3-pointer in the first half. But in the second, they made six 3-pointers and scored 49 points. They also had five players score in double figures, including two who came off the bench.
Minnesota defeated Iowa 92-87 on Sunday. In the two game homestead, the Gophers scored 178 points for an 89 point average in this newfound offensive output.
Illinois jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Trent Frazier and a put-back on an offensive rebound by Ayo Dosunmu. The Fighting Illini looked to get shots from the perimeter while hitting Giorgi Bezhanishvili on the roll of the ball screen. Minnesota on the other hand were getting touches to Jordan Murphy, but he had to fight double teams on each touch.
The lead went up to 7-2 before Dupree McBrayer hit a back-cutting Gabe Kalscheur for an and-one. Another point of emphasis from Richard Pitino was to cut against the overplay. Illinois took a 9-5 lead into the first media timeout.
Minnesota scored on their next two possessions. Daniel Oturu was back in action and converted on a pick and roll from Amir Coffey. Jordan Murphy also got a catch in the secondary break at the high post and went by Giorgi.
As the game went on, it began to resemble Sunday’s offensive explosion against Iowa. Murphy scored around the rim and McBrayer hit off of another backdoor cut. Bezhanishvili made three field goals on the other end as Illinois clung to a 17-15 lead with 11:59 left in the first.
Illinois began looking to get the ball inside to the Georgian more while Minnesota did the same when they weren’t pushing the ball transition or cutting against defensive pressure.
Minnesota tied it up at 21 with two straight buckets by Amir Coffey. They took their first lead at 23-21 with eight minutes left off of penetration by Isaiah Washington. After two straight buckets by Illinois, Washington hit a jumper for his second basket in a row. That tied the score at 25 going into the eight minute media timeout.
As Illinois pressured the Minnesota perimeter players the guards began to make plays, particularly Washington and Coffey and Murphy was the benefactor of both. Coffey hit him off the pick and roll for a dunk. Washington did the same on a fast break after McBrayer got a steal and got it to the point guard in the open floor.
With the score knotted at 29-all, Brad Underwood opted for a 2-3 zone. The Gophers gashed it on the first trip. Daniel Oturu was fouled and made one of his free throws to give Minnesota a 30-29 lead with four minutes left.
Murphy picked up his second foul with 3:08 left to join Eric Curry. The 7-foot-0 center for Illinois, Adonis Delarosa made them pay immediately on the first possession to put Illinois back ahead. Frazier added a 3-pointer on the next possession. But Minnesota had more answers from its backcourt. McBrayer and Coffey both knocked down field goals after switches created mismatches and they were picked up out on the floor by the Fighting Illini bigs.
Frazier nailed another shot, a tough mid-range floater, but Washington answered again on the other end with his own jumper from the foul line off of a crossover dribble to give the Gophers a 37-36 lead with eight seconds left. It appeared that was where it would stand going into the locker room, but the red-hot Trent Frazier rained down another 3-pointer, this time over two defenders to give Illinois a 39-37 lead at intermission.
Minnesota shot fifty percent for the half. They only took four 3-point attempts with no conversions. This was self explanatory when one takes into account the pressure that Illinois provides and how that ran the Gophers guards off the line. The were 7 of 9 from the foul line. There were also seven assists against five turnovers.
Murphy led Minnesota's scorers with 10 on 5 of 8 shooting. Coffey had 8, Washington 6, McBrayer and Oturu 4, Kalscheur 3, and Curry 2.
Murphy led the way with 5 first half rebounds and Coffey added 4 assists.
Illinois shot 47.1 percent from the filed and were 4 for 14 from behind the arc. They were 3 for 4 from the foul line. They had 7 assists and 6 turnovers. Illinois also was ahead in the rebound battle 18-16.
Minnesota's locker room discussion had to be how to slow down Trent Frazier. The point guard led all scorers with 13 points. He was 5 for 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from deep. Bezhanishvili also had 7 points.
The second half started like the first half ended. Both team's leading scorers went to work. Murphy hit a layup on the first possession, but Frazier scored five points the first two times he touched it as Illinois stretched the lead to 43-39 with eighteen minutes left.
Kalscheur hit Minnesota's first 3-pointer the next time down to draw the Gophers within one. A steal and a lay-in by Tevian Jones plus two more foul shots from Frazier gave him 19 points and the Fighting Illini a 47-42 lead at the sixteen minute media timeout.
Washington and Kalscheur both hit 3-pointers out of the break to put Minnesota back up 48-47. After a foul shot, Washington broke down the Illinois defense again and got to the rim form up top, drew the defense, and dropped a dime off to Murphy for another dunk. Kalscheur knocked down another three and gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the game at 53-48 with just under fourteen minutes left. Coffey followed that with a drive and finish, forcing Underwood to burn a time out with Minnesota up 55-48 and on a 13-1 run.
The run continued out of the timeout and the usual supporting cast were the main culprits. Coffey hit another 3-pointer and Washington scored around the rim to push the lead out to 62-53 with 9:42 remaining.
Michael Hurt got into the scoring column with a strong inside move and Delarosa picked up a flagrant one foul on the other end. Minnesota got two foul shots and the ball. Kalscheur converted both making the lead 66-53. Coffey scored again on an acrobatic and-one and added another foul shot.
Minnesota erased a 47-42 deficit with 16:08 remaining. From there, they outscored Illinois 27-6 in just over an eight-minute stretch with the score 69-53.
In the final eight minutes, both teams basicallyl swapped buckets. The lead never got below double figures as the Gophers coasted for an 86-75 victory.
There were five Minnesota players who ended up in double figures. Amir Coffey led the way with 18 points. He also had 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Jordan Murphy also put up another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Gabe Kalscheur had 14 points and got back to his 3-point shooting ways going 3 for 5. Isaiah Washington had 12 points and 4 assists against no turnovers. Daniel Oturu also got back into action after missing the Iowa game with 11 points. He was 2 for 2 from the field and 7 of 10 from the line. He also had 8 rebounds.
Dupree McBrayer added 9 points. Eric Curry had 4, and Michael Hurt had 2. Matz Stockman played and didn't score.
Minnesota shot 50 percent for the game and knocked down six 3-pointers. They were also an impressive 20 for 26 from the foul line.
But the damage was down in the second half. Along with the 49 points, they were 6 of 15 from the 3-point line for 40 percent. They were also 11 of 15 from the foul line. They also had 9 assists versus only 4 turnovers.
Illinois shot 44.8 percent from the field, and only 29.2 percent from deep. They got to the line 22 times.
If there is blame to go around on the Illinois team, it shouldn't fall on the shoulders of Trent Frazier. The point guard ended up with 30 points on 10 for 14 from the field including 5 of 9 shooting from behind the arc. Andres Feliz and Tevian Jones were the only two other players that finished in double-figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Minnesota will return to action on Sunday morning at 11:00 A.M. CST when they travel to Mackey Arena and take on the Purdue Boilermakers.
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