National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 76, Michigan St 63
When: 2:00 PM ET, Monday, December 31, 2012
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: # D.J. Carstensen, # Ted Valentine, # Terry Wymer
Attendance: 14625


No. 13 Minnesota 76, No. 18 Michigan State 63:
Andre Hollins scored 22 points and handed out six assists as the Golden Gophers pulled away late to win their Big Ten opener against the visiting Spartans.

Minnesota (13-1) trailed 61-58 following Adreian Payne's dunk with 7:16 to play but closed the game on an 18-2 run. Michigan State had five turnovers and shot just 1-for-9 from the floor in the closing stretch.

The Spartans (11-3) came into the game allowing opponents to shoot just 35.3 percent from the field – best in the Big Ten – but the Gophers connected on 56.6 percent of their shots.

Rodney Williams had 15 points for Minnesota while Austin Hollins added 12. Trevor Mbakwe finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Gophers to a 38-24 advantage on the boards against a Michigan State team that had been outrebounding opponents by more than 10 per game.

Keith Appling led the Spartans with 15 points and six steals while Gary Harris finished with 12 points.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Michigan State had been averaging over 20 free throw attempts and shooting 72.5 percent from the line, but finished 2-of-10 from the charity stripe. … The Gophers came into the game ranked 24th in the nation with 16.5 assists per game, but posted their highest total in four games with 19 against the Spartans. … Michigan State will host Purdue for its conference home opener on Saturday. Minnesota finishes a four-game homestand Sunday against Northwestern.


Top Game Performances
 
Michigan St   Minnesota
Keith Appling 15 Scoring Andre Hollins 22
Keith Appling 5 Assists Andre Hollins 6
Adreian Payne 7 Rebounds Trevor Mbakwe 12
Keith Appling 1 Free Throws Made Andre Hollins 7
Keith Appling 6 Steals Joe Coleman 3
Keith Appling 1 Blocks Joe Coleman 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Michigan St 63 44.4 5-11 2-10 18 24 3 10 14
Minnesota 76 56.6 3-8 13-22 19 38 8 9 16