Gophers wake up in time to cruise by Rutgers

Looking like a team facing the cold, sobering reality of morning after a night of partying, the Gophers men's basketball team slogged through the start of Tuesday's game, following up a raucous upset victory over No. 6 Maryland with stretches of uninspired play against the Big Ten's worst, Rutgers.

But midway through the second half, Minnesota emerged from its hangover, came alive offensively and topped Rutgers 83-61 at Williams Arena for the Gophers' second consecutive victory — their first winning streak since November — directly on the heels of a historically bad 14-game losing streak.

"I think we're just getting started," freshman guard Dupree McBrayer said. "We're getting on the same page and just preparing to go on this big run we know we have in us."

Minnesota (8-19, 2-13 Big Ten) scored on its last five possessions, and McBrayer landed a three-pointer just before the buzzer to finish off Rutgers (6-22, 0-15), which was ranked lower than any major conference team in the nation coming into the game, according to analyst Ken Pomeroy.

Freshman forward Jordan Murphy finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, good for his second consecutive double-double, while senior forward Joey King added 15 points and seven rebounds. The 22-point margin in the first of two games against Rutgers in 10 days was the Gophers' biggest blowout of the season.

The Scarlet Knights, already without standout freshman guard Corey Sanders, who was serving the third of a four-game suspension, announced about an hour before game time that center Greg Lewis would sit, too, because of a knee injury. They extended their in-conference skid to 30 games dating to last season.

"It's a little bit different than a Maryland win," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. "But it's nice to be on the winning side again."

With Lewis on the bench, Rutgers went with a four-guard lineup and switched to a matchup zone. The Gophers looked clueless to the changes. Minnesota turned the ball over 10 times and made only half its free throws in a sloppy first half.

"I think we saw 0-[14] on Rutgers' record and in some way or another, I think we took them a little lightly," King said. "I'm just glad we were kind of able to refocus during halftime."

After using a mini-spark to overcome an early nine-point deficit, the Gophers led 32-31 at the break. From there, the difference in sheer talent on the court kept the Gophers' heads above water long enough for them to get their act together.

And in the second half, they did. Minnesota got to the basket at will and Murphy often played above the rim, while the team simultaneously got hot from the outside. Back-to-back threes from King and McBrayer (14 points, seven assists, six rebounds) opened up a 51-38 lead with 12 minutes, 24 seconds remaining and the Gophers cruised from there.

Despite the sudden success, though, the Gophers know — reminded again through poor stretches Tuesday — that there is work to be done if they want a respectable finish. Minnesota has a home date with Wisconsin sandwiched between road games at Illinois and Rutgers to round out the regular-season schedule.