Eric Curry scored a career-high 22 points in Minnesota's 76-70 win over Penn State on Saturday at Williams Arena. ((credit: University of Minnesota Athletics))
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team beat Penn State 76-70 Saturday night at Williams Arena. It was the Gophers’ third Big Ten win, and ended a five-game losing skid.
Ben Johnson didn’t hesitate to celebrate with his players. He took a bucket, and promptly doused guard Luke Loewe. Earlier this season, players got Johnson plenty of times with water bottles amid a 10-1 start. It was payback in a fun way, and worth celebrating after an otherwise tough start to the Big Ten season. The Gophers are now 3-10 in league play.
"I thought about going to Target and getting a Super Soaker, but I was too lazy to do that," Johnson joked on Monday. "You’ve got to enjoy every single win, it’s so hard to win. I don’t care who you play, it’s so hard to win. Just wanted to make sure those guys really enjoyed it."
The Gophers got the win with the help of a career night from Eric Curry. The senior scored a career-high 22 points, and made his first 3-pointer of the season. He’s the feel-good story of the program this season.
Curry said before last year’s Big Ten Tournament he was done with basketball after last season. Too many injuries, time to look into coaching. He’s now having the best season of a career marred by injuries, averaging 8.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
He’ll get his chance to thank Gophers’ fans on his Senior Night later this month.
"It’s nice to see that he’s getting rewarded. Nice to see that he’s able to finish his career here on the right note and his way, it’s not on the bench or in street clothes. It’s out there on the court playing," Johnson said. "To be able to see him go out on his terms and on a high note, I think he’s playing pretty good basketball right now. It’s rewarding as a coach because you know how much time he puts in."
The Gophers didn’t have Curry back in late January in a 75-64 loss to the Buckeyes, and they were physically overpowered. Minnesota got out-rebounded 48-22, gave up 20 offensive rebounds, 27 second chance points and 40 points in the paint.
Johnson and the Gophers will need Curry healthy the rest of the season. They’ll need everybody as they embark on their busiest stretch this week, playing three games in a five-day stretch. They head to Ohio State Tuesday night, travel to Penn State Thursday and host Northwestern Saturday afternoon. The Gophers also host Wisconsin on Feb. 23, making for four games in a nine-day stretch.
Johnson said this week will be a lot of mental reps between walkthroughs and film. There won’t be a lot of practice, they’ll save their energy for games. That’s especially important for a team that lacks depth, and the Gophers rely on their starters to play a majority of the minutes.
Johnson compared it to an NBA schedule.
"Players always want to play games, that goes without saying. They should be loving this week because it’s just that. It’s almost like an NBA feel – play, travel, play, travel, play," Johnson said. They should be excited. I told them you guys all want to be at that next level and be pros, now you get a little glimpse of what it’s like to do that."
It’s already been a rollercoaster season in Johnson’s first run. A 10-1 start head many thinking the Gophers could be an NCAA Tournament team. They’ve since lost nine of 11, and are 3-10 in Big Ten play with seven regular season games left, plus the Big Ten Tournament.
Saturday’s win was important to get confidence back, after loss at Nebraska that gave the Cornhuskers their first Big Ten win amid an 0-12 start. It was just as important to get back to meeting their on-court standards and expectations.
"You want to win every game, but we were just consumed with we had to make sure we played better on both sides of the ball. That was probably what I was most happy about, they delivered on what we talked about and they got rewarded with a win," Johnson said.