Cam Christie scored 19 points, Elijah Hawkins added 18 points and eight assists, and Minnesota rallied for a 75-70 win over Penn State in a Big Ten Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Mike Mitchell Jr. and Parker Fox scored 11 points apiece for Minnesota (18-11, 9-9 Big Ten). The Golden Gophers overcame a 23-point deficit in the first half to rally for the victory.
Puff Johnson scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting to lead Penn State (14-16, 8-11). Ace Baldwin Jr. finished with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Minnesota completed a regular-season sweep against Penn State, with both victories including second-half comebacks. The Nittany Lions led the first contest by 14 points at halftime before the Golden Gophers stormed back for a nine-point win.
On Saturday, Nick Kern Jr. made a layup to give Penn State a 53-41 lead with 12:57 remaining.
Mitchell made a 3-pointer on the next possession for Minnesota. That started a rally for the Golden Gophers, who closed the game with a 34-17 advantage.
A layup by Christie gave Minnesota a 59-58 lead with 4:41 to go. Christie followed up with a 3-pointer less than a minute later to boost the Golden Gophers’ lead to 62-58.
Penn State briefly regained a 63-62 lead with 2:44 to go, but that proved to be the final time the Nittany Lions were on top.
Mitchell made a layup to make it 64-63 in favor of Minnesota with 2:04 left. Christie and Hawkins added five straight free throws to help secure the victory.
Penn State led 42-30 at the half.
The Nittany Lions went on an 11-0 run to grab an 18-8 lead with 13:24 remaining in the first half. Johnson made a 3-pointer to start the run, which also included a 3-pointer by Zach Hicks, another 3-pointer by Johnson and a layup by Qudus Wahab.
A jump shot by Wahab made it 41-18 in favor of Penn State with 5:04 to go.
Minnesota closed the first half on a 12-1 run to cut the deficit to 12 points at the break. Pharrel Payne started the run with four straight points on two free throws and a dunk.
–Field Level Media