Coming off a hard-fought loss at home to Iowa, in which the team no doubt played their hearts out, it would have been reasonable to expect that this PSU team would come out flat on the road in Minneapolis on a Saturday night.
That sure wasn’t the case however, as the opening few minutes saw Josh Reaves blocke a shot on the Gophers’ opening possession and subsequently receive an alley-oop from Lamar Stevens on the ensuing fast break. Reaves then followed that up with a steal and slam of his own. Lamar would also heat up, nailing a pair of free throws and hitting a three-pointer to give PSU an 11-3 lead and forcing Minnesota coach Richard Pitino to burn an early timeout.