Daniel Oturu scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Minnesota cruised to an 83-57 win over Northwestern in a Big Ten matchup on Sunday afternoon at Evanston, Ill.
Marcus Carr notched 18 points and seven assists, and Gabe Kalscheur and Payton Willis scored 14 points apiece. Minnesota (13-13, 7-9 Big Ten) snapped a three-game losing streak and won on the road for the first time since Jan. 23.
Pete Nance scored 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting to lead Northwestern (6-20, 1-15), which dropped its 11th consecutive game. Ryan Young finished with 10 points, and Boo Buie had nine points.
Minnesota shot 48.4 percent (30 of 62) from the field, compared with 38.7 percent (24 of 62) for Northwestern. The Golden Gophers were 14 of 30 from 3-point range and posted a 48-29 advantage on the glass.
The Wildcats were 3 of 18 from behind the arc.
Northwestern's deficit increased to 29 points with 4:40 remaining as the Golden Gophers' Willis drained a 3-pointer to make it 78-49.
A 6-0 run helped Minnesota open up a 21-point lead with 13:21 to go. Carr made a jump shot and a layup to start the run, and Oturu punctuated it with a slam dunk off a feed from Willis.
Miller Kopp made a jump shot on Northwestern's next possession, but the Golden Gophers continued to pile on as Kalscheur drained a 3-pointer only 22 seconds later to increase the advantage to 58-36.
Minnesota built a 44-28 lead at the half. Oturu had 13 points for the Golden Gophers at the break, while Carr had 11.
Buie led the Wildcats with seven points during the first half. His 3-pointer pulled Northwestern within 20-15 with 10:22 to go before intermission, but Minnesota responded with a 12-5 run to go ahead 32-20 with 5:41 remaining.
The Golden Gophers finished the first half on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 16 points. Alihan Demir made a layup to start the run, which also included a layup by Carr and a 3-pointer by Kalscheur.
Minnesota freshman forward Isaiah Ihnen did not play because of a right wrist injury.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Northwestern | |
Daniel Oturu 22 | Scoring | Pete Nance 11 |
Marcus Carr 8 | Assists | Pat Spencer 6 |
Daniel Oturu 12 | Rebounds | Miller Kopp 5 |
Sam Freeman 3 | Free Throws Made | Miller Kopp 2 |
Gabe Kalscheur 1 | Steals | Pat Spencer 1 |
Daniel Oturu 3 | Blocks | Tino Malnati 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Minnesota | 83 | 48.4 | 14-30 | 9-15 | 19 | 44 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
Northwestern | 57 | 38.7 | 3-18 | 6-13 | 16 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 7 |