Penn St. Nittany Lions vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score on Mar 02, 2024

Cam Christie scored 19 points, Elijah Hawkins added 18 points and eight assists, and Minnesota rallied for a 75-70 win over Penn State in a Big Ten Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Mike Mitchell Jr. and Parker Fox scored 11 points apiece for Minnesota (18-11, 9-9 Big Ten). The Golden Gophers overcame a 23-point deficit in the first half to rally for the victory.

Puff Johnson scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting to lead Penn State (14-16, 8-11). Ace Baldwin Jr. finished with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Minnesota completed a regular-season sweep against Penn State, with both victories including second-half comebacks. The Nittany Lions led the first contest by 14 points at halftime before the Golden Gophers stormed back for a nine-point win.

On Saturday, Nick Kern Jr. made a layup to give Penn State a 53-41 lead with 12:57 remaining.

Mitchell made a 3-pointer on the next possession for Minnesota. That started a rally for the Golden Gophers, who closed the game with a 34-17 advantage.

A layup by Christie gave Minnesota a 59-58 lead with 4:41 to go. Christie followed up with a 3-pointer less than a minute later to boost the Golden Gophers' lead to 62-58.

Penn State briefly regained a 63-62 lead with 2:44 to go, but that proved to be the final time the Nittany Lions were on top.

Mitchell made a layup to make it 64-63 in favor of Minnesota with 2:04 left. Christie and Hawkins added five straight free throws to help secure the victory.

Penn State led 42-30 at the half.

The Nittany Lions went on an 11-0 run to grab an 18-8 lead with 13:24 remaining in the first half. Johnson made a 3-pointer to start the run, which also included a 3-pointer by Zach Hicks, another 3-pointer by Johnson and a layup by Qudus Wahab.

A jump shot by Wahab made it 41-18 in favor of Penn State with 5:04 to go.

Minnesota closed the first half on a 12-1 run to cut the deficit to 12 points at the break. Pharrel Payne started the run with four straight points on two free throws and a dunk.

--Field Level Media