Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson said Friday his players should not concern themselves with his uncertain job status.
“That’s something that they don’t need to think about,” Johnson told reporters. “Any player with any coach, any outside or undo pressure is not fair to them. That’s not their job or their worry or their concern. I just want them to focus on beings positive and as energetic and as enthusiastic and as competitive as they can be.”
As an eight-point road underdog, the Gophers didn’t roll over Saturday and took a 19-point lead five minutes into the second half. They tightened up down the stretch but held on for a 67-65 win Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.
Up 64-63 with 18 seconds left, Minnesota had a shot clock violation and Nebraska’s Juwan Gray’s put-back gave them a one-point lead.
But Brennan Rigsby’s 3-pointer from the wing and Huskers’ Andrew Morgan’s heave was off the mark to seal the win.
Coming off the bench, Rigsby finished with a career-high 20 points, including 5 of 6 from deep. Rigsby, who had a combined three points in his previous four appearances, was a spark off the bench early, akin to when he scored 14 in the road win at Penn State on Feb. 3.
The Gophers (15-14, 7-11 Big Ten) snapped a 10-game losing streak at Nebraska since 2012, including 0-9 since the Cornhuskers’ new arena opened in 2013.
Nebraska (17-12, 7-11) suffered a huge blow to their NCAA Tournament chances.
Minnesota also continues to puzzle. After losing Penn State and Northwestern at home in the last week, the U improved to 5-4 in Big Ten road games.
Rigsby’s trey from the left corner gave Minnesota a 62-57 lead with 2:12 remaining. On the preceding defensive play, Dawson Garcia appeared to roll his ankle and didn’t finish the game.
The Gophers led 35-26 at the half despite Garcia being scoreless. Brennan Rigsby (11 points), Femi Odukale (eight), Lu’Cye Patterson (seven) and Frank Mitchell (six) carried the scoring load in the opening 20 minutes.
Minnesota used a 10-0 run to open up its biggest lead, 33-17, but Nebraska closed the first half on a 6-0 spirt.
Odukale was especially important early; he had eight of Minnesota’s first 10 points.
Coming into Saturday’s game, Garcia and Brice Williams were tied for second in the Big Ten at 19.6 points per game, 0.3 behind Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli (19.9).
Garcia got going early in the second half with seven points and finished with nine. Williams ended with 21.
Leave a Reply