Nate Mason had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists to help Minnesota get its first Big Ten win of the season with a stunning 68-63 upset of No. 6 Maryland on Thursday night.
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Minnesota fans celebrate following an upset win over No. 6 Maryland.
It was the first victory in 14 conference games for Minnesota, and Maryland dropped its second straight game to fall to 10-4 in Big Ten play.
The victory for Minnesota (7-19, 1-13) broke a 14-game losing streak for the Gophers and led to a long-awaited court-storming at The Barn. He averaged 11.1 points per game while starting 25 of 33 games a year ago after transferring from Chipola College. After Maryland cut it to a one-point game late, Mason nailed a three-pointer to extend the lead to four points.
Trailing 40-29 at halftime, Maryland quickly cut its deficit to six early in the second half on a 3-point shot by senior forward Jake Layman and two free throws by Sulaimon.
The Huskies have lost twice to Temple and once to Cincinnati, the other teams above them in the conference standings coming into Thursday.
Needing a win to tie Iowa and IN for first-place IN the league, Maryland (22-5, 10-4) suffered the kind of embarrassing defeat that should drop the Terps out of the Top 10 for the first time all season.
The Gophers’ offense was still in disarray after Rasheed Sulaimon’s free throws made it 54-52 with just under seven minutes remaining. Minnesota entered the night as one of the Big Ten’s worst three-point shooting teams, but it hit 7 of 13 in the first 20 minutes. His five blocks give him 38 in just 15 games this season.
Murphy, Minnesota’s freshman standout, took advantage of Stone being out by attacking the rim whenever he saw an opening.
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Sulaimon scored 28 points for Maryland. And the 6-foot-6 San Antonio native drew a foul going to the basket with under a minute left.
