Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Indiana Hoosiers Match Player Stats On Feb 09, 2018

Indiana never trailed and held Minnesota to just eight points over the first 8 1/2 minutes of the game while building a 12-point advantage in the first half. That margin ballooned to as many as 27 points in the second half, as the Hoosiers ran away with the victory over injury-depleted Minnesota.

Robert Johnson added 11 points for Indiana, which outshot Minnesota 56.6 percent-33.3 percent and forged advantages in rebounding (35-33), assists (21-4), steals (9-6) and blocked shots (6-2).

The Hoosiers have now won two games in a row after losing four straight contests. Indiana (14-12, 7-7 Big Ten) has outscored its past two opponents (Rutgers and Minnesota) by an average of 23 points; it lost games by three, 15, seven and two points in its four-game swoon.

Minnesota got 18 points from Nate Mason, while Isaiah Washington and Jordan Murphy added 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Golden Gophers' bench was outscored 23-9 in the loss.

Minnesota's loss was its seventh straight and the second this season to Indiana. The Golden Gophers (14-13, 3-11) played without their two front-line guards Amir Coffey and Dupree McBrayer because of shoulder and shin injuries, respectively.

Indiana made half of its 26 shots from the floor in the first half, including 5 of 12 on 3-point attempts in building a 39-29 lead at halftime. The Golden Gophers managed just an 11-of-30 showing from the floor (36.7 percent) but stayed in the game by grabbing six offensive rebounds in the half.

Mason and Murphy scored 19 points combined for Minnesota while the other four players that saw the court for the Golden Gophers amassed a combined nine points.

Green led all scorers in the first half with 17 points while Morgan added 9 points for Indiana.

Next up for Indiana is Wednesday's home game versus Illinois. Minnesota jumps from the frying pan into the fire as it hosts No. 4 Michigan State on Tuesday.

--Field Level Media