When Chris Babb and Danny Morrissey combined to connect on three consecutive 3-pointers for Penn State's offense, it appeared the Nittany Lions had some life.
But, by the end of the afternoon, Penn State went just 9-for-27 from beyond the arc, while No. 22 Minnesota connected on all nine of its long-range attempts to lead it to a 79-59 win Sunday at Williams Arena.
"Chris Babb made a couple of big shots to crawl us back, but then the floodgates opened," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis told the Penn State Sports Network. "We gotta go back and regroup. We can't let one turn into another one."
While Babb provided some help to Penn State off the bench and played 20 minutes, Minnesota's bench stole the show.
The Minnesota reserves scored 47 of the team's 79 points, with guard Devron Bostick netting 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting in just 16 minutes. Forward Paul Carter added 14 points in 20 minutes.
"We got behind, and we lost focus defensively," DeChellis said. "The kids who started we guarded pretty well and did a good job against. But the kids off the bench just played great for them."
Minnesota stretched its first half lead to 40-30 as Carter slammed one home with time expiring.
Penn State got off to a similar start in the second half when guard Talor Battle came up with a steal and took it in for a dunk, but it served as the team's highlight of the second half.
Soon after, the Gophers went on a 16-3 tear that opened a 20-point lead and ultimately doomed the Lions (13-4, 2-2 Big Ten).
Battle led the way for Penn State with 19 points, but the Lions shot just 36.7 percent from the field, turned the ball over 14 times and had eight shots blocked by the Minnesota defense. The Lions didn't block any shots.
In the midst of Minnesota's big second-half run, Stanley Pringle missed a 3-point attempt, but Penn State kept possession. D.J. Jackson and Battle each got off shot attempts inside the paint, but the Gophers turned away both.
DeChellis questioned his team's effort in the game, and the Gophers took advantage by using full-court pressure and preventing the Lions from establishing an offensive rhythm.
"We didn't compete like we needed to," DeChellis said.
"Competing defensively means making tough loose ball plays, not talking. You can get beat in this league but you want to know you are in this thing."
