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Nittany Lion men lose in OT at home

STATE COLLEGE — The cheers and hollers coming from the Minnesota locker room were audible at least 20 feet away, deep inside Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.

It sounded like joy, a feeling the Golden Gophers hadn’t experienced in at least 10 days after losing two of their best players — one to suspension, the other to injury.

“They were dealt a difficult situation,” Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said. “And they responded well, so hopefully this gives us great confidence.”

Dupree McBrayer scored 14 of a career-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, Nate Mason added 25 points and Jordan Murphy scored 22 and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Golden Gophers (14-6, 3-4 Big Ten) who snapped a three-game losing streak.

All three losses came after Reggie Lynch was suspended and Amir Coffey was hurt.

The tough stretch looked like it would continue when Tony Carr capped a late Penn State run with a 3-pointer to force overtime at 74-all.

Carr tied his conference career-high with 33 points, Mike Watkins added 20 and 11 rebounds and Lamar Stevens chipped in 12 for the Nittany Lions (13-7, 3-4) who trailed by 13 with 8:56 to play.

McBrayer hit a jumper then to put Minnesota up with its largest lead of the game at 63-50 but Penn State raced back with a 15-2 run. Mike Watkins capped Penn State’s surge with his second steal and sprinted the other way for a dunk that tied it at 65.

But Minnesota’s shooting prowess was too much down the stretch.

The Golden Gophers made 53 percent of their field goals on 35-for-66 shooting. That included a 10-for-17 pace from 3-point range with three coming in overtime.

“They caught fire, absolute fire hitting those three 3s,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said.

The Nittany Lions need Josh Reaves back. They looked listless at points in this one without arguably their most fiery player. Notably, Penn State has allowed nearly 10 more points per game with their best defender suspended for academic reasons.

Watkins’ double-double was his fifth of the season but he also fouled out in overtime and let his frustration boil over.

As Watkins came out of the game shaking his head, an assistant coach approached him and Watkins gave him a soft shove before teammates grabbed him by the arms. He sank into a chair and pulled a towel over his head for the final moments of the game.

“I think we were giving him different looks,” Murphy said. “I think that got to him a little bit and inevitably got him out of the game.”

Penn State travels to Northwestern on Saturday.

MINNESOTA (14-6)

Murphy 10-17 2-5 22, Konate 0-2 2-3 2, Harris 5-11 3-4 16, McBrayer 8-13 5-6 24, Mason 9-18 3-5 25, Hurt 1-1 0-0 2, Fitzgerald 0-1 0-0 0, Diedhiou 2-3 0-0 4, Rudrud 0-0 0-0 0, Washington 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-66 15-23 95.

PENN ST. (13-7)

Stevens 4-12 3-4 12, Watkins 10-14 0-3 20, Wheeler 0-1 0-0 0, Garner 4-11 0-0 11, Carr 12-30 6-6 33, Zemgulis 0-0 0-0 0, Pierce 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Bostick 3-5 2-2 8. Totals 33-74 11-15 84.

Halftime–Minnesota 41-37. End Of Regulation–Tied 74. 3-Point Goals–Minnesota 10-17 (Mason 4-5, McBrayer 3-4, Harris 3-6, Fitzgerald 0-1, Murphy 0-1), Penn St. 7-22 (Garner 3-8, Carr 3-8, Stevens 1-4, Bostick 0-2). Fouled Out–Watkins. Rebounds–Minnesota 42 (Murphy 19), Penn St. 33 (Watkins 11). Assists–Minnesota 12 (McBrayer, Mason, Murphy 3), Penn St. 12 (Garner, Carr 3). Total Fouls–Minnesota 14, Penn St. 18. A–6,361 (15,261).

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