Elsewhere in the B1G: Sloppy play late derails Gophers comeback bid against No. 8 Syracuse

Minnesota 67, No. 8 Syracuse 75

Under first year head coach Richard Pitino, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have jumped out to a 5-0 start; however, against No. 8 Syracuse, the Gophers faced by far their toughest test yet in the quarterfinal round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. 

Syracuse, meanwhile, headed into tonight's game with a perfect mark of its own (4-0), having most recently played a week ago against St. Francis (NY), only a 6-point victory in the Carrier Dome. 

Facing the Orangemen's 2-3 zone, Andre and Austin Hollins would need to make shots from the outside; coming into tonight's game, they had shot 35 percent and 36 percent from downtown, respectively. 

Things didn't look good for the Gophers early, as Syracuse jumped out to a 7-0 lead in just over a minute of play. However, the Gophers rallied, eventually taking a 15-14 lead at the 13:03 mark. Additionally, Andre Hollins buried his first two triples of the game, a good sign for a team looking to attack Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone. 

Despite SU's top 10 ranking, the Gophers appeared equal to the challenge, as both teams combined to play an exciting first half that ended with the Orangemen taking a 39-36 lead into the locker room. The Gophers shot 6-for-11 from three in the first half (54.5 percent) and held SU to just 38.2 percent from the field. 

However, 12 turnovers in the first half alone --three from each Hollins-- didn't allow the Gophers to pull ahead. 

On the other hand, SU sophomore G Trevor Cooney attempted eight of his team's nine first half 3-point attempts, converting four of them. Minnesota would have to do a better job on Cooney in the second half in order to come away with a big non-conference upset win. 

Even more importantly, the Gophers would have to do a better job on the glass. In the first half, the Orangemen rebounded 10 of their 21 misses, good for an impressive offensive rebounding percentage of 47.6 percent. 

Unfortunately for Pitino, C Elliott Eliason went into the half with two fouls; he would need to avoid a quick 4th in the second half if the Gophers were going to prevent SU from continuing their domination of the boards on the offensive end. 

Big Ten Basketball Weekend Roundup

While Michigan fans were busy sweating out a triple overtime victory against Northwestern, several Big Ten basketball squads were in action yesterday, all four scoring victories of varying significance. Of course, the Wolverines face off against Iowa State later today in Ames.

Here's what happened around the Big Ten yesterday:

No. 20 Wisconsin 69, Green Bay 66

The Badgers jumped on US-151 yesterday and headed for Ashwaubenon, Wis., where they faced the Green Bay Phoenix of the Horizon League.

Bo Ryan's squad went down 15-9 early, but the Badgers pulled into the half with a 34-29 lead after averaging 1.14 points per possession. Sam Dekker led UW in the first half with eight points on 4-of-6 from the field. Josh Gasser bounced back from a scoreless Florida outing to put up seven points in the first half.

The Phoenix not only hung around in the second half, they owned a 4-point lead with just over 10 minutes left to play. Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes killed the Badgers all game, finishing the night with 32 points.

However, a 10-0 run by the Badgers put them up 60-54 with six minutes left to play, a lead they would not relinquish. Frank Kaminsky, not known for his play down low, came up big late in the game with several big baskets from the post. Kaminsky logged a double-double on the night (16 points, 11 rebounds).

Possibly Kaminsky's biggest play of the game came with four seconds remaining and the Badgers up 68-66. After Traevon Jackson split a pair of free throws, UW-GB had the chance to tie or take the lead. Sykes drove hard to the rim, but Kaminsky helped, swatted the shot and corraled the rebound. Kaminsky went on to also split a pair of free throws at the other end, giving Sykes once last chance at a desperation three.

The shot at the buzzer landed just off the mark, allowing the Badgers to escape with a victory that was probably much closer than they expected it to be. UW-Green Bay will be a team to watch in the Horizon League going forward (and come March Madness, should they make the field).

No. 10 Ohio State 52, No. 17 Marquette 35 

The football team was busy notching its 22nd victory in a row, a 60-35 victory at Illinois. Meanwhile, the basketball team notched a victory with a nearly identical score, which should be a pretty solid indicator of the type of basketball team Thad Matta has this year. They'll have to find more scoring as the year goes on, but that defense is nasty. 

Marquette shot an abysmal 18.9% from the field. Shannon Scott and Aaro Craft led the Buckeyes with 13 and 10 points, respectively; F Sam Thompson pitched in 13 from the bench. LaQuinton Ross, however, who had himself a nice tournament run this past March, went 0-of-6 from the field and scored zero points. 

It wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing game of all time, but a win against a ranked Marquette team, in Milwaukee, will likely end up a quality victory come tournament time. 

Penn State 83, Penn 71

The Nittany Lions lost the second half by 11 points; luckily for them, they went into halftime up by 23. In case you didn't already know, Tim Frazier is back: he scored 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Frazier also added seven assists, but did cough up six turnovers. 

Penn State is now 2-1 on the season. 

Minnesota 74, Richmond 59

Richard Pitino's Minnesota squad also hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Richmond's Robins Center. The Gophers jumped out to an early 12-0 lead but went into the half up just 40-37. 

From there, the game was fairly even for the first 13 minutes or so of the second half. The Spiders went up 59-55 with 7:25 to play, but the Gophers surged ahead with a 19-0 run to close the game. Andre Hollins paced the Gophers with 26 points; Austin Hollins, Malik Smith and Joey King also cracked double-digits.