In the midst of a five-game losing streak, Minnesota coach Jim Molinari compared the situation to how you would feel after hours of practice, dog-tired, unable to breath, thirsty, and the roof of the gym was about to collapse on top of you.

"Would you move?" Molinari asked his players, according to Minnesota athletics.

"We said, 'Yeah, we would run,' " Minnesota center Jonathan Williams answered.

It was a life or death scenario for Minnesota and the Penn State men's basketball team, but only the Golden Gophers were able to escape defeat. A six-game losing streak fell straight on the heads of the Nittany Lions (10-10, 1-6 Big Ten), as the Gophers triumphed at home, 65-60 on Saturday.

Williams, who had only started four games prior to the Penn State contest and currently averages 1.9 points per game, raised his game with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

"I am just trying to widen Jon's perspective," Molinari said. "I am one of those people who thinks outlook determines outcome. I think motivation is telling people they can do more than they believe they can."

For Penn State, confidence has hit another low. The Lions have now lost all six of their road games this season, and under head coach Ed DeChellis, they are now 5-33 on the road.

The breaking point came when sophomore Milos Bogetic drained a three to pull the Lions within one at 51-50 with 9:14 remaining in the second half. Neither team could muster another score until the 6:27 mark, as Minnesota's Dan Coleman hit a jumper to bring the margin back to three.

"It was 51-50 there forever, but we couldn't get one more basket to get the lead," DeChellis said according to Minnesota athletics. "Then the mindset was a lot different on the other end."

Minnesota (8-13, 2-5) connected on 47 percent of its shots, while converting 10-of-24 three-point attempts. Gopher guard Lawrence McKenzie hit 5-of-10 from beyond the arc for a team-high 19 points.

Prior to the game, Minnesota was hitting at a 33 percent clip on three-point attempts. DeChellis tried mixing zone and man-to-man defensive looks, but his team failed to contain the open shooter all afternoon. Nothing was working.

"There was only one guy shooting threes for them, and that was McKenzie," DeChellis said. "That's kind of been their theme all year. We just don't find the guy who's making some shots."

Geary Claxton scored 20 points on 5-for-16 shooting, adding 12 rebounds, each team highs. Jamelle Cornley posted 14 points, but as a team, the Lions shot less than 36 percent from the field and converted 9-of-25 shots in the paint.

After being out-rebounded in three consecutive games by Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State, Penn State beat out Iowa and Minnesota a combined 79-63 on the boards. But DeChellis' team just can't find a way to convert, especially after Saturday's 16 offensive rebounds.

"We rushed some shots," DeChellis said, "and had some guys inside taking some tough shots instead of kicking it back out."

Now Penn State find itself underneath a litany of teams in the Big Ten standings with familiar doormat-mate Northwestern by its side.

The Gophers, by winning, avoided keeping the Wildcats company.

"It is live or die," Williams said. "We don't want to be last in the Big Ten. It hit home with us that we have to fight to win a lot of games. We have to play these games like they are our last playing basketball."