Minnesota 54, Northwestern 48

[February 17, 2014]  EVANSTON — Minnesota 54, Northwestern 48: DeAndre Mathieu scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lift the Gophers in Big Ten play and snap a five-game skid on the road.

Maurice Walker finished with eight points and six rebounds off the bench and Joey King had seven points for Minnesota (17-9, 6-7), which ended a five-game losing streak at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Austin Hollins added six points and six boards while Andre Hollins chipped in eight points.

JerShon Cobb had a game-high 23 points and five threes for Northwestern (12-14, 5-8), which has lost its last three games. Alex Olah had 10 points and four rebounds, and Tre Demps scored nine points off the bench.

Minnesota trailed 28-25 at the break after committing 10 turnovers in the first half but three quick scores from Mathieu and Andre Hollins gave the Gophers a 32-31 lead around the 17:44 mark of the second half. The lead changed four times over the next 10 minutes and Cobb kept the Wildcats close with three triples during the stretch.

A 3 from Austin Hollins at the 3:09 mark gave the Gophers a five-point lead and Mathieu hit two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to make it 52-46. A layup by Demps cut the lead to four but Andre Hollins sank two more free throws to put the game away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Minnesota has averaged 13.5 turnovers over the last four games. ... Cobb has made five or more threes in back-to-back games and scored more than 20 points four times this season. ... Drew Crawford, the active leading-scorer in the Big Ten (1,809 points), went 1-for-15 for two points, but did have 11 rebounds for Northwestern.

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