National Basketball Association
Minnesota 79, Illinois 71
When: 2:15 PM ET, Saturday, January 24, 2015
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
# Chris Beaver, # Mike Eades, # Larry Scirotto
Attendance:
13421
By SportsDirect Inc.
Minnesota 79, Illinois 71: Andre Hollins poured in 28 points, including 19 in the second half, as the Golden Gophers pulled away for a home win over the Fighting Illini.
Carlos Morris added 16 points for Minnesota (13-8, 2-6 Big Ten), which won for the second time in three games. The Gophers, who also received 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds from Maurice Walker as well as 10 points off the bench from Nate Mason, enjoyed a 38-30 advantage on the glass and hit a season-high 22 free throws in 29 attempts.
Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill both scored 18, with four 3-pointers apiece, for Illinois (13-8, 3-5), which had won 11 of its previous 13 road games in the series. Jaylon Tate added 11 points and a career-high nine assists for the Illini, who shot 37.7 percent from the field despite an 11-of-24 performance from 3-point range.
The contest was knotted at 44-44 with 12:29 to play when a Hollins 3-pointer jump-started a 12-0 run over the ensuing five minutes to give Minnesota its first double-digit lead. Another Hollins triple put the Gophers up 61-46 with 5:55 remaining and Illinois would get no closer than six points thereafter.
The opening half was a back-and-forth tussle, featuring 19 lead changes and seven ties. Minnesota shot 6-of-14 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes while the final triple – drained by Hollins with 1:04 to go – gave the Gophers a 33-30 halftime lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hollins has scored 80 points and shot 27-of-49 from the field over his last three games. … Minnesota is 2-2 at home in Big Ten play after finishing the non-conference season with an unblemished home mark (9-0) for the fourth straight year. … G Rayvonte Rice (broken hand) and G Aaron Cosby (torn retina) missed their sixth- and second-straight games, respectively, for Illinois.
Top Game Performances
| Illinois |
|
Minnesota |
|
Malcolm Hill 18 |
Scoring |
Andre Hollins 28 |
|
Jaylon Tate 9 |
Assists |
Nate Mason 6 |
|
Leron Black 9 |
Rebounds |
Maurice Walker 13 |
|
Jaylon Tate 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Nate Mason 7 |
|
Nnanna Egwu 3 |
Steals |
Maurice Walker 3 |
|
Nnanna Egwu 2 |
Blocks |
Andre Hollins 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Illinois
|
71 |
37.7 |
11-24 |
14-16 |
12 |
27 |
4 |
8 |
10 |
| Minnesota
|
79 |
47.1 |
9-20 |
22-29 |
18 |
35 |
2 |
6 |
13 |
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