Minnesota Basketball: Gophers Extend Winning Streak to 7 Beating Penn State 81-71

THE FACTS

It was a total team effort this afternoon in The Barn as the Gophers controlled Penn State throughout the game, winning 81-71 and extending their winning streak to 7 games. Nate Mason was just a couple assists shy of a triple-double leading the Gophers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Jordan Murphy scored 16 points and matched that with 16 rebounds. Dupree McBrayer gave the team 15 points off the bench. And then there was Reggie Lynch who scored 9 points but dominated the paint with 11 blocked shots, while also setting the Gopher’s single-season record for blocks.

THE STAT

11 blocked shots is a huge night but that’s not the stat of the night. Not remotely. Reggie Lynch with 0 fouls is the stat of the night. 11 blocks on a more regular basis wouldn’t be out of the question if he had more games with three fouls or fewer.

HOT

Dupree McBrayer has been hot and might be in line for Big Ten Player of the Week honors. The junior scored 18 at Maryland and then was dominant in the second half this afternoon, finishing with 15. After struggling for a stretch in late January/early February, McBrayer is averaging 16 ppg over his last three games.

NOTABLE

The Gophers are not only fighting to get themselves into the double-bye territory for the Big Ten Tournament but they might even get themselves up to a 3rd place finish. Ultimately it is all about seeding at this point for the Gophers both in the Big Ten Tourney and the NCAA Tourney. I would expect in the coming week this team will be ranked and most bracket projections will have them as a consensus 6-seed.

UP NEXT

Nebraska comes to The Barn for Senior Night on Thursday.