Rutgers Basketball's four game win streak snapped as Minnesota wins 81-70
Rutgers Basketball saw its four-game winning streak snapped after an 81-70 loss to Minnesota.
Minnesota was propelled by a strong start to the second half as it used a 19-7 run to take a 56-44 lead with 12:45 left. From there, the Golden Gophers closed out Rutgers led by Pharrel Payne with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Rutgers would not go down without a fight though as it used an 11-0 run in one minute and 28 seconds of game time to make it a 72-66 game with 2:11 remaining. However, Minnesota was able to hang on as it went 23-for-34 from the free-throw line.
Minnesota was hot shooting the ball all day as it finished 51 percent from the field and 8-for-16 from three. The Golden Gophers also had four other players record double figures as Elijah Hawkins tallied 16 points, seven assists, and six rebounds while Dawson Garcia had 14 points and eight rebounds. Mike Mitchell Jr. added 12 points while Cam Christie had 10 points and five assists.
Jamichael Davis had a chance to cut it to a five-point game with 7:59 remaining, but his 3-pointer rattled out and led to a Garcia layup to snatch back momentum for Minnesota and give it a 62-52 lead.
After a strong first half, Rutgers cooled down in the second half as it finished the day shooting 39 percent from the field and 4-for-19 from three. Cliff Omoruyi pioneered the Scarlet Knights with 19 points and eight rebounds while Derek Simpson added 19 points and five rebounds.
The first half was a shootout that saw the two sides go into halftime tied at 37. Rutgers finished the half shooting 53 percent from the field and had 26 points in the paint. Omoruyi led the way with 13 points and six rebounds while Simpson had eight points.
Despite Rutgers' quality start, Minnesota matched the Scarlet Knights as it went into the tunnel shooting 52 percent from the field, led by Payne with 13 points and six rebounds. The Golden Gophers also attempted 11 more free throws than Rutgers as it went 8-for-15 from the line.
After falling behind 18-14, the Scarlet Knights used a 15-4 run to open up its largest lead of the half with 6:17 to go.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME....
Cliff Omoruyi slams it home to give Rutgers a 19-18 lead with 10:41 remaining in the first half.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Rutgers will travel to Mackey Arena to take on No. 2 Purdue on Thursday at 7 p.m. (ET) on FS1.
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