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Nittany Lions fall farther in standings

From Mirror, wire reports

UNIVERSITY PARK — Dawson Garcia scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and reserve Brennan Rigsby scored 14 points and Minnesota pulled away from Penn State at the end for a 69-61 win on Tuesday night.

Rigsby was perfect shooting going 5 for 5 including 2 for 2 from 3-point range and made both of his foul shots. Lu’Cye Patterson added 14 point for the Golden Gophers (12-11, 4-8 Big Ten), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Penn State has lost four straight and eight of its last nine games. The Nittany Lions are in the bottom three teams in the league standings along with Washington and Northwestern. Only 15 teams make the Big Ten Tournament.

Reserve D’Marco Dunn led Penn State (13-10, 3-9) with 18 points. Ace Baldwin Jr. and Zach Hicks each scored 11 points and Nick Kern Jr. 10.

Kern’s two free throws with 9:04 remaining marked the Nittany Lions’ last lead at 46-44 because on Minnesota’s ensuing possession, Mike Mitchell made a 3-pointer for a one-point advantage.

Patterson made two foul shots and Rigsby made a 3 for a 52-46 advantage. Dunn’s layup with 6:44 remaining reduced Penn State’s deficit to 52-48 but the Nittany Lions never got closer.

Penn State played without starting forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser (12.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg) who was out due to injury. The Nittany Lions were without co-captain Puff Johnson (10.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg) for a fifth-straight game. However, no reason was given.

Game notes: Penn State started the game missing its first six shots. … Kachi Nzeh, who started in place of Niederhauser, finished with zero points. … Minnesota shot only 39 percent from the field in the first half, but improved to 61 percent in the second half…. Baldwin recorded his 1,600 assist of his career by finishing with five on the night. … The Golden Gophers went on a 12-2 run in the second half that put them up by eight points with 4:46 to play in the game. … Minnesota next plays Saturday when it hosts 23rd-ranked Illinois. … Penn State travels to UCLA to play the Bruins on Saturday. The Nittany Lions will remain on the west coast and play at USC on Tuesday night.

MINNESOTA (12-11): Fox 2-3 2-2 6, Garcia 7-15 5-7 19, M.Mitchell 3-7 0-0 9, Odukale 1-2 0-0 2, Patterson 6-10 2-2 14, Asuma 2-7 1-2 5, Rigsby 5-5 2-2 14, F.Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Edmonds 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 12-15 69.

PENN ST. (13-10): Hicks 2-6 6-8 11, Nzeh 0-2 0-2 0, Baldwin 5-13 0-0 11, Dilione 2-9 2-2 6, Kern 3-9 3-4 10, Dunn 6-11 4-4 18, Stewart 1-5 0-0 3, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Goodman 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-58 15-20 61.

Halftime–Penn St. 25-21. 3-Point Goals_Minnesota 5-14 (M.Mitchell 3-6, Rigsby 2-2, Patterson 0-1, Garcia 0-2, Asuma 0-3), Penn St. 6-20 (Dunn 2-4, Baldwin 1-3, Kern 1-3, Stewart 1-4, Hicks 1-5, Dilione 0-1). Fouled Out–Odukale, Kern. Rebounds–Minnesota 33 (Garcia 14), Penn St. 28 (Kern 7). Assists–Minnesota 12 (M.Mitchell, Patterson 3), Penn St. 11 (Baldwin 5). Total Fouls–Minnesota 19, Penn St. 17.

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