Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 24 points to guide Penn State to a 69-60 Big Ten victory over Minnesota on Saturday in Minneapolis.
Konan Niederhauser had seven rebounds and blocked five shots to fuel a strong defensive effort by Penn State (15-13, 5-12 Big Ten), which has won two in a row following a seven-game skid. Ace Baldwin Jr. and Fred Dilione V each chipped in 10 points for the Nittany Lions, although the duo combined to shoot 4-of-16 from the field.
Femi Odukale scored 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting to pace Minnesota (14-13, 6-10), which shot just 33.9 percent from the field and 5-of-23 from 3-point range. Golden Gophers leading scorer Dawson Garcia pulled down 10 rebounds but was limited to 11 points, eight under his average, on 3-of-16 shooting.
Minnesota trailed by 14 with under eight minutes to play before Odukale scored eight points to help the Golden Gophers get within 60-55 with 2:45 to go. Isaac Asuma then added two free throws to make it a three-point game.
However, Penn State sealed the game at the foul line, as the team went 7-of-7 from the stripe in the final 1 1/2 minutes. Konan Niederhauser provided the exclamation point with a dunk in the waning seconds.
Early 3-pointers by Garcia and Mike Mitchell Jr. helped Minnesota jump ahead 8-2. The Golden Gophers led for most of the half until Penn State caught up at 26-26 on a three-point play by Dilione.
Konan Niederhauser knocked down two free throws in the final minute, and the Nittany Lions led 28-26 at the break.
Konan Niederhauser led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, and he added eight points in the first six minutes after intermission as Penn State went ahead 42-35.
Meanwhile, Minnesota couldn’t find a way to crack the scoreboard. After Garcia’s jumper put the hosts ahead 35-33 with 16:55 remaining, the Gophers went more than six minutes without a point.
During that stretch, the Nittany Lions went on a 13-0 run to go in front by double digits.
Penn State’s lead ballooned to as many as 14 when Jahvin Carter’s 3-pointer made it 53-39 with under eight minutes left.
–Field Level Media
