This could have been Minnesota’s game from the beginning, and in the end the team that was tougher down the stretch came out on top.
Andre Hollins scored 22 points to lead No. 9 Minnesota to a 76-63 victory over No. 18 Michigan State on Monday at Williams Arena.
Minnesota was in control early, withstood a second-half surge from Michigan State, and then took advantage of a barrage of late Michigan State turnovers to pull out the victory on the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Minnesota, which hadn’t beaten Michigan State at Williams Arena in the previous five meetings, closed the game on a 18-2 run after Michigan State had taken a 61-58 lead with a little more than seven minutes to play.
Keith Appling scored 15 for Michigan State (11-3, 0-1) while Gary Harris scored 12 and Derrick Nix added 10 on 5-for-15 shooting.
Rodney Williams scored 15 points for Minnesota (13-1, 1-0) while Austin Hollins added 12 points and Trevor Mbakwe added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
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