National Basketball Association
Minnesota 85, Nebraska 78
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
# Edwin Young, # Robert Riley, # Courtney Green
Attendance:
9624
By Field Level Media
Amir Coffey scored a career-high 32 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished six assists, and host Minnesota rallied for an 85-78 win over No. 24 Nebraska on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Jordan Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 52nd career double-double, surpassing Jim Brewer (51) for the Golden Gophers' all-time record. Daniel Oturu added 10 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten).
Isaac Copeland Jr. had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Cornhuskers. Isaiah Roby had 15 points and Glynn Watson had 14 for Nebraska (7-2, 1-1), which had its three-game winning streak end.
The Golden Gophers trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half before rallying in the final 10 minutes in front of their home crowd. Coffey calmly drained a pair of free throws to give Minnesota a 74-73 lead with 3:01 remaining.
Coffey drew a charge on Nebraska's next possession and hit a 3-pointer on the other end to increase Minnesota's lead to 77-73 with 2:25 left. He screamed toward the crowd after making the shot that capped a 9-0 run.
An 11-3 run to start the second half gave Nebraska a 55-42 advantage early in the second half.
Nebraska led 44-39 at the half.
The Cornhuskers jumped to a 12-4 lead in the first three minutes and increased their advantage to 28-19 midway through the first half. Thomas Allen made a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to nine points with 9:21 left before the break.
Minnesota responded with a 17-4 run to seize a 36-32 advantage with 4:53 to go before halftime. The Golden Gophers scored 11 consecutive points to cap the run, including seven straight points by Coffey.
Nebraska finished the half on a 12-3 run.
The Golden Gophers wore dark red T-shirts with the message "RIP Tayra" in pregame warmups and on the bench. The message was in support of guard Dupree McBrayer, whose mother, Tayra McFarlane, died Monday after a battle with cancer.
McBrayer finished with five points, four assists and two steals. He draped a towel over his head and wiped away tears as he received hugs from coaches and teammates after the comeback victory.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Nebraska |
|
Minnesota |
|
Isaac Copeland Jr. 17 |
Scoring |
Amir Coffey 32 |
|
James Palmer Jr. 4 |
Assists |
Amir Coffey 6 |
|
Isaac Copeland Jr. 7 |
Rebounds |
Jordan Murphy 13 |
|
Isaiah Roby 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Amir Coffey 14 |
|
Thomas Allen 2 |
Steals |
Dupree McBrayer 2 |
|
Isaiah Roby 3 |
Blocks |
Daniel Oturu 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Nebraska
|
78 |
45.9 |
7-21 |
15-19 |
13 |
28 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
| Minnesota
|
85 |
51.8 |
3-8 |
24-32 |
15 |
35 |
5 |
4 |
13 |
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