Gabe Kalscheur gunned in eight of Minnesota's school-record 18 3-pointers and tied his career high with 26 points on Sunday as the Golden Gophers routed hapless Nebraska 107-75 in a Big Ten mismatch at Minneapolis.
Alihan Demir added 19 points and 10 rebounds on his senior day, while Marcus Carr contributed 18 points and 11 assists for Minnesota (14-16, 8-12 Big Ten). Daniel Oturu hit for 10 points as the Golden Gophers connected on 56.9 percent of their shots from the field and drew 32 assists on 41 made buckets.
Haanif Cheatham scored 17 points to pace the Cornhuskers (7-24, 2-18), who have lost 16 straight games and finished last in the Big Ten. Jervay Green added 15 points, Thorir Thorbjarnarson netted 14 and Kevin Cross had 10, but it wasn't nearly enough to enable the shorthanded guests to compete with Minnesota.
Nebraska played without starting guards Cam Mack and Dachon Burke, who were suspended Saturday by coach Fred Hoiberg for unspecified violations of team rules. Mack was cited by Lincoln police Wednesday for striking a vehicle from behind and leaving the scene.
The Cornhuskers played just seven players, and after a quick start that actually saw them score the first six points, couldn't stop the Golden Gophers. Isaiah Ihnen's putback with 12:02 left in the first half gave Minnesota the lead for good at 20-18.
Kalscheur converted a transition 3-pointer off a Carr assist with 4:05 mark to give the Gophers a 41-29 lead. The lead swelled to 19 as Ihnen also drilled a 3-ball in transition with 1:22 remaining, and Minnesota settled for a 52-37 advantage at intermission.
Any thoughts of a competitive second half ended pretty quickly. The margin grew from 15 to 25 in less than three minutes as Carr capped a 12-2 run with a corner 3-pointer to make it 64-39 with 17:08 remaining.
The only remaining suspense was whether the Gophers would reach the century mark. They did with 2:42 left when Sam Freeman dunked on the fast break.
--Field Level Media
Nebraska | Minnesota | |
Haanif Cheatham 17 | Scoring | Gabe Kalscheur 26 |
Haanif Cheatham 4 | Assists | Marcus Carr 11 |
Charlie Easley 6 | Rebounds | Alihan Demir 10 |
Thorir Thorbjarnarson 5 | Free Throws Made | Alihan Demir 3 |
Haanif Cheatham 3 | Steals | Marcus Carr 1 |
N/A | Blocks | Isaiah Ihnen 2 |