The Big 10 men’s basketball tournament opened Wednesday with Nebraska losing and Minnesota moving on with a win.
D.J. Newbill scored 26 points, Shep Garner added 19 and Penn State hung on to beat Nebraska 68-65 Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament opener.
The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (17-15) advanced in the tournament for the first time since a run to the final in 2011, despite letting a 16-point lead in the second half dwindle to one.
They came away with their second-straight win after dropping six in a row when Shavon Shields missed a 3 for 12th-seeded Nebraska (13-18) at the buzzer.
Joey King hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 to lead Minnesota to an 80-68 victory over Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday.
The 11th-seeded Golden Gophers (18-14) broke open a tight game on a 22-8 spurt midway through in the second half. King and Charles Buggs highlighted the blitz with three 3-pointers in a span of 53 seconds.
After King extended the lead to 43-38 at the seven-minute mark, Buggs buried another 3-pointer 18 seconds later. Rutgers’ Junior Etou followed with a pair free throws, then King hit a 3-pointer to give his team a 49-40 advantage.
Carlos Morris scored 16 points for the Golden Gophers, while Nate Mason added 15 more.
Minnesota (18-14) shot 52 percent in the field and scored 42 points in the paint. The Golden Gophers will meet Ohio State on Thursday night.
