A 69-61 win over the Nittany Lions on the road is a good thing.
After trailing by four at halftime, Minnesota came from behind to beat Penn State 69-61 on the road. The win moves Minnesota to 4-8 in the Big Ten, having won four of their last 6 games after starting 0-6.
Typically Minnesota gets most of their production from Dawson Garcia who leads the team in scoring and rebounding by wide margins. Last night’s win was no different. Garcia led the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds, ending his streak of 7 consecutive games hitting 20 points.
But when Minnesota wins, they need to get production from one or two others to provide a more balanced attack. Lu’Cye Patterson has occasionally been that additional spark and he contributed 14 points on 6/10 shooting. But then more help came from an unexpected source. Brendan Rigsby also scored 14, playing 22 minutes, he did not miss from the field and possibly had the dunk of the year.
Brennan Rigsby one-hand SLAM @GopherMBB#B1GMBBall on BTN pic.twitter.com/JY9V8t0uzd
— Big Ten Men’s Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 5, 2025
Rigsby has scored a total of 7 points over the previous eight games, playing just 7 minutes per game and twice didn’t see the floor. At Penn State, Rigsby was needed and played 22 minutes.
TURNING POINT: The Rigsby dunk was absolutely the turning point of this game. D’Marco Dunn had just hit a three to put Penn State ahead by 10 with 2:11 left in the first half. Minnesota was stuck at just 15 points. But Rigsby drove down the lane, hammered one home as Nick Kern Jr. thought about taking a charge before sliding out of the way so as not be posterized. The dunk sparked a 6-0 run to end the half, cutting the lead to 4, and then Minnesota controlled the 2nd half.
Penn State quickly pushed the lead back up to 7, early in the 2nd half. But Ben Johnson substituted Rigsby back into the game and the lead quickly evaporated to just one point in just under three minutes of gametime.
HOT: Say it with me…Brendan Rigsby. He was 5/5 from the field (2/2 from three) and 2/2 from the free throw line. Rigsby was +13 in +/- last night.
NOT: The Gophers in the first half were pretty ugly. Scoring 48 points in the 2nd half and finishing strong was encouraging to see. But it cannot be overlooked that this team had 21 points at halftime. They were 1/7 from three and were averaging 0.72 points per possession.
Really, both teams were “NOT” in the first half. Penn State did not score a basket in the first six minutes of the game, but Minnesota was stuck at just four in that same timeframe.
GOOD MOVE: Apparently playing Rigsby for 22 minutes was brilliant. Our Oregon transfer, who has barely seen the floor in the Big Ten portion of the season, played 15 minutes in the 2nd half and as we have already stated, did not miss from the field.
UP NEXT: The Gophers host #23 Illinois before they get to take their Southern California road trip. The Illini will be at The Barn on Saturday with a 4:00 tip off.