Read my full game story on Minnesota's 83-61 win over Rutgers, here.

Three quick observations after the Gophers started their first, ahem, winning streak since November:

A win is a win is a win. Having witnessed 2015-16 Rutgers in person, I feel comfortable saying that this is the worst major-conference team I've seen. Now, of course, that was amplified by the fact that the Scarlet Knights were additionally handicapped tonight with freshman guard Corey Sanders sitting out due to a suspension and senior center Greg Lewis missing the game with a knee injury. So a terrible Rutgers was further hobbled. Ugly stuff here. The fact that they had a nine-point lead at one point is almost baffling. But although the Gophers struggled at points, ultimately they ran away with it -- which, by the way, is more than a couple other Big Ten teams can say -- and a victory in a season such as this one cannot be overvalued.

It's a freshman world. As the season draws to a close, both freshmen Dupree McBrayer and Jordan Murphy are starting to look like genuine star material. We saw Murphy play like this early on, but now he seems to be hitting a new stride again. Tuesday, he was in full non-conference mode, totally taking advantage of the mismatches he had inside. McBrayer, meanwhile, is starting to play like the guy coach Richard Pitino has been talking about for weeks. He's changing the game with his attack, taking good shots and hey, making them. It's a good look for a team on its way out, with youth driving the team next year.

Plenty to get under control still. There might be as much to critique in this game as there is in any 22-point blowout. Minnesota looked lethargic at the start and let Rutgers -- armed with the element of surprise in a four-guard lineup and matchup zone -- played the role of aggressor. Turnovers came in bundles early, with the Gophers randomly driving out of bounds and having the ball mind-bogglingly swatted out of their hands. They appeared to have just the problem that this team more than any other should have been immune to -- they overlooked Rutgers. And Minnesota also took a step back at the free throw line, where they managed just 58.3 percent after exceeding 73 percent in the previous four games and connecting for their Big Ten high of 87 percent against Maryland. All of that will need to improve if the Gophers want to continue their win streak at Illinois this weekend.