It is not going to be easy this year in the Big Ten. Nate Mason was practically nuclear in getting a near triple-double for the Gophers with 31 points, 11 assists, and 6 rebounds as the Gophers pulled off a shocker in West Lafayette. Purdue did not play well, but the Gophers played a fantastic game from the beginning. They hit their first eight shots of the game to jump out to a 17-4 lead in the first five minutes. Purdue was able to cut it to 3 by halftime and even led by 7 in the second half, but Mason clawed them back in it.
A huge three by Amir Coffey tied the game at 71 and Dupree McBreyer scored after a turnover to give the Gophers a late lead. Caleb Swanigan then tied it with 4.9 seconds left to send it to overtime. McBreyer missed a 3 at the buzzer, however.
The overtime was almost all Minnesota, however. They used a 6-0 run capped by a McBrayer basket to go ahead 81-75 with 1:34 left. Purdue had some critical turnovers on the offensive end and a missed open three by Ryan Cline during the run. Eric Curry then hit a huge three to make it 84-75 with just over a minute left and that was that.
We’ll have more later, but this sucks. A lot. Biggie got another 20/20, but it means little.