Gophers men’s basketball coach Niko Medved warned Monday on his radio show about third-ranked Michigan’s “spurt-ability.”
He looked prophetic come Tuesday.
The Wolverines displayed that ability to go on quick runs, with a 19-5 burst to effectively put away a 77-67 win over Minnesota at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Wolverines (26-2, 16-1 Big Ten) clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship with a victory, while Minnesota (13-15, 6-11) ended a two-game winning streak.
“I’m such a competitive guy,” Medved said postgame on KFAN. “I’m not a guy — I don’t sit there and believe in moral victories and all that. (But) I’m really proud of my team, man. … This team that we are playing against, analytically, is as good as any team I’ve seen in college basketball in the last 15 years. They just showed a ton of heart, man. If it wasn’t for that one stretch, we were right there.”
Michigan was a 22 1/2-point favorite, but Minnesota was within 51-47 with 10 minutes left. However, the Wolverines made five 3-pointers over the next four minutes.
The Wolverines coughed up 14 total turnovers, which led to 14 points for the Gophers, and that helped Minnesota keep it closer.
The first half started with 10 lead changes before Michigan went on a 11-0 run to go up 30-20. But Minnesota didn’t roll over, outscoring Michigan 8-2 to make it 32-28 at the break.
Minnesota, which remained down to six total players, continued to rely on zone defense and it kept Wolverine’s leading scorer Yaxel Lendenborg scoreless in the opening 20 minutes. He was averaging 14.6 per game and finished with three points.
The much-taller Wolverines had a 39-18 rebounding edge, but the Gophers were only outscored 26-24 in the paint.
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