Minnesota squeezes past IU, 67-63

Minnesota forward Trevor Mbakwe had 16 rebounds to go along with 11 points and five blocks as the No. 21 Golden Gophers defeated the IU men's basketball team 67-63 on Tuesday in Williams Arena.

The Hoosiers (9-7, 0-3) held a six-point lead at halftime, but struggles with turnovers and two 10-0 Minnesota (12-3, 1-2) runs gave the Golden Gophers a lead as large as seven points with 19 seconds remaining.

IU nearly clawed its way back into the game with 3-pointers and subsequent fouls, pulling to within two points with nine seconds remaining. But Minnesota guard Blake Hoffarber made two free throws to ice the Hoosiers' fifth-straight loss.

Freshman guard Victor Oladipo and junior guard Verdell Jones led IU with 13 points each as the Hoosiers struggled to score with 37 percent shooting. Sophomore forward
Christian Watford had his second rough outing in three games, scoring only four points on 2-of-13 shooting. He had three points in IU's Big Ten opening loss against Penn State on Dec. 27.

The Golden Gophers, playing without suspended guard Devoe Jospeh, shot 41.5 percent from the field and had four players in double-digit scoring. Guard Al Nolen scored 13 points - just his third double-digit output of the season - and Hoffarber led the team with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

IU will round out a two-game road trip at Northwestern (9-3, 0-2) on Sunday before returning home to play Michigan on Jan. 15.