Gophers coach Niko Medved slammed his clipboard onto the Williams Arena floor during a timeout huddle early in Friday’s second half against Southern Cal.

Minnesota’s lackadaisical play allowed the Trojans to go on a 6-0 spurt and extend its lead 41-30. After only 54 seconds was played, Medved had seen enough.

The Gophers chipped away at the deficit and forced overtime but fell 70-69 to USC at The Barn.

In the extra session, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson made a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to give Minnesota a 69-68 lead. On the next possession, Chad Baker-Mazara got a foul call when falling to the court and made both free throws to retake the lead at 70-69.

The home fans booed that decisive call, and many others, down the final stretch.

On the last play, Cade Tyson had the ball poked away. He had the ball poked away, recovered it and a late heave was off the mark.

Minnesota (10-6, 3-2 Big Ten) fell to 9-1 at home this season and snapped a five-game winning streak.

In regulation, Minnesota took the lead at 63-62 with Cade Tyson’s two free throws with 45 seconds remaining. But Gabe Dynes made made one free throw to tie it again at 63-63 with 28 seconds left.

Cade Tyson’s game-winning shot attempt was short with five seconds left and USC’s Ezra Ausar’s last-second attempt was off the mark.

Minnesota forced 16 turnovers, but had only six points off them.

Baker-Mazara, who was averaging 19.3 points per gam, scored 29 points on Friday, but was held scoreless over the last eight minutes and until those final free throws.

Langston Reynolds and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson each picked up two fouls and sat for the the final eight minutes of the first half. Minnesota was up 22-21 when both went to the bench and USC outscored Minnesota 14-8 to take a 35-30 lead at the break.

USC’s 7-foot-5 center Gabe Dynes had eight first half points on 4-of-4 shooting and even with Crocker-Johnson in foul trouble, Medved didn’t turn to backup center Nemo Turner.

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Minnesota might have been carrying a little anger into a rematch series at Minnesota State this weekend.

The Mavericks swept the Gophers at Ridder Arena Nov. 21-22. It appears that Minnesota is keen to flip the script this time around as the visiting Gophers scored nine goals in the first two periods before calling off the dogs in an 11-3 victory in Mankato Friday night.

Third-ranked Minnesota, which hasn’t lost since being swept by the Mavericks, won its fifth in a row and improved to 17-4 on the season with a 10-3 win at MSU Friday night.

The host Mavericks actually drew first blood in the contest, scoring less than two minutes into the game. However, the Gophers scored the next five, including two from Abbey Murphy en route to a hat trick in the game, to take a 5-1 advantage at the first intermission.

MSU opened the second period in similar fashion, scoring 3:30 into the frame. But once again, Minnesota scored the next five — four in the second period, including Murphy’s third goal, and one final tally to open the final stanza.

Kendra Distad’s second goal of the evening, came at 2:10 of the third period before the Mavericks, who fell to 11-9-1, scored one final tally of their own while short handed at 3:58. Minnesota’s Molly Jordan netted the game’s final goal with her team on the power play at 18:39.

Anabella Fanale, Avery Hovland, Jamie Nelson, Nelli Laitinen, Tereza Plosova and Molly Jordan all scored for Minnesota on the night. Josefin Bouveng had three assists in the contest, with Fanale, Emma Kreisz, Chloe Primerano and Ava Lindsay all logging two assists apiece. Goaltender Hannah Clark made 22 saves.

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A lackluster season Minnesota men’s hockey team continued Friday night as the Gophers returned to Big Ten Conference play with a 3-0 loss at No. 9 Penn State.

The Nittany Lions scored the only goal they needed at 5:13 of the first period, but added another just over seven minutes later to take a 2-0 lead into the opening intermission. Just five seconds into the second period, the hosts scored again with what proved to be the final goal of the game.

Minnesota goaltender Luca Di Pasquo did what he could to keep the visitors in the game by making 37 saves, but it was not enough as none of the Gophers’ 27 shots got past Penn State netminder Joshua Fleming.

Minnesota has not won in three straight games, including an overtime loss at Ohio State on Dec. 5 and a 3-3 tie at Bemidji State on Jan. 2.

Penn State hosts the Gophers in their final regular-season matchup at 5 p.m. Saturday. The two teams split at Nov. 21-22 series at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

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Rylee Bartz scored with just 55 seconds remaining in regulation as the St. Thomas women’s hockey team defeated Bemidji State 2-1 at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul on Friday evening.

Nora Sauer had given the Tommies a quick 1-0 lead on a goal just 34 seconds into the game. However, the Beavers’ Shelby Sandberg knotted the score at 1-1 at 3:29 of the middle frame and that’s how the count remained until Bartz’s late heroics.

Ellah Hause and Cara Sajevic recorded assists on Sauer’s opening tally, while Maddie Brown snagged an assist on Bartz’s finisher.

St. Thomas improved to 9-12 with the win, while Bemidji State fell to 5-13-3 in defeat. The two teams face one another again Saturday in a 2 p.m. puck drop at Anderson Arena.

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