PAUL CARTER LEADS THE MINNESOTA GOPHERS PAST THE HOOSIERS

Paul Carter scored 19 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to propel Minnesota to a 62-54 win over Indiana Tuesday night at Williams Arena.

Carter, who hit six of his final seven shots after starting the game 1-of-6 from the field, also added six rebounds, two steals and a block in 22 minutes of action. Freshman point guard Devoe Joseph added nine points and four rebounds, while freshman big man Ralph Sampson III poured in eight points and seven rebounds to help the Gophers improve to 19-5 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten.

Verdell Jones III paced Indiana with 18 points and Nick Williams added 13 for the Hoosiers, who are now 6-17 overall and 1-10 in the Big Ten.

Trailing Tom Crean’s squad 34-33 with just under 13 minutes remaining in regulation, the Gophers’ offense finally erupted – going on an 11-0 run – to take control of the game and avoid a major scare in front of a sellout crowd of 14,625.

Despite playing without leading scorer Devan Dumes – who was indefinitely suspended by Crean for throwing an intentional elbow at a Michigan State player on Saturday - Indiana made things more-than-interesting for the Maroon and Gold all night long.

In a first half infested with turnovers (Indiana had 15 miscues to Minnesota’s 11), the Gophers – who held Indiana without a field goal for the first 5:09 of regulation - couldn’t pull away from the Hoosiers.

Minnesota, which built an 11-point first half lead, held Indiana to just 6-of-15 from the field (35.6 percent) in the first half. But with the Gophers equally as poor – they went 10-of-26 from the field (38.6 percent) - Minnesota was up just seven, 27-20, heading into the locker room following a buzzer-beating layup by Jones.

Two minutes into the second stanza a three by Jones cut Minnesota’s lead to 29-25; showing the Hoosiers came to The Barn not just to be competitive – but to win.

Tubby Smith brought in four players – Devoe Joseph, Blake Hoffarber, Devron Bostick and Jon Williams – to attempt and change the game’s momentum. The Hoosiers, though, had other plans: They were set on continuing their three point barrage.

After going 1-of-7 from downtown in the first half, Indiana opened the second half by making 4-of-6 from behind the arc. And after Matt Roth hit back-to-back three’s to silence Williams Arena, Indiana had its first lead of the game, 34-33, with 12:50 remaining.

Indiana’s lead, however, was short lived.

The Gophers responded from the Hoosiers’ surge with one of their own – going on an 11-0 run, capped by a Jamal Abu-Shamala three – that put Minnesota ahead 44-34 with 10:12 to go.

From there, the Gophers’ lead ballooned to 14 with just under six minutes to go when a dunk by Carter put Minnesota ahead 52-38. The Gophers, who recorded eight regular season conference wins last year, held on down the stretch to pick up their seventh Big Ten victory of the season.

Minnesota went 22 of 55 from the field (40 percent). The Hoosiers, meanwhile, went 16-of-37 from the floor (43.2 percent).

The Gophers return to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to State College to take on Penn State.
Noteworthy:

The 26 turnovers by Indiana Tuesday night are the most by a Minnesota opponent this season. Previously, the Gophers forced 20 turnovers on three occasions (Georgia State, Colorado State and South Dakota State).

The number of Golden Gopher standout Trent Tucker (No. 32) was retired at halftime Tuesday night.

Team Notes:
• Tubby Smith is now 39-19 as the head coach at Minnesota, and 426-164 for his career.
• Smith is 11-4 against Indiana.
• Smith is 32-24 all-time against teams that belong to the Big Ten Conference.
• Tonight’s crowd was a sellout at 14,625. It was the fifth time this year that there was a sellout at Williams Arena.
• Minnesota swept the series with Indiana for the first time since 1990 when the Golden Gophers defeated the Hoosiers 108-89 on Jan. 28 and 75-70 on Mar. 1.
• Minnesota’s 19-5 record is its best start in its first 24 games since the 1981-82 season also started with the same mark.
• Minnesota forced Indiana into tying a season-high 26 turnovers. That matched the 26 turnovers the Hoosiers committed against Wake Forest on Dec. 3.
• The Golden Gophers limited Indiana to 20 points in the first half. In its last two games at Williams Arena, Minnesota has held its opponents to a combined 36 points. The Golden Gophers limited Illinois to 16 points in the first half on Jan. 29.
• The Golden Gophers had 14 steals on the night which was a season-high. Minnesota’s previous season-high was 13 against High Point on Dec. 28, 2008.
• Minnesota held Indiana to a season-low 37 field goal attempts.
• Minnesota had 18 offensive rebounds on the night. The total was just one short of the season-high, which the Golden Gophers had against Concordia-St. Paul (Nov. 14) and Colorado State (Nov. 22).
• Minnesota had 40 of its 62 points on the night come from its bench.
• Golden Gophers newcomers scored 47 of the 62 points that Minnesota had on the night.
• Minnesota had nine different players score tonight, while Indiana had five different players score in the game.

Individual Player Notes:

• Paul Carter had career-highs in points (22), field goals made (7), free-throws made (7) and minutes played (29).
• Carter is the sixth different Golden Gopher to score 20 or more points in a game this year. He joins Lawrence Westbrook, Blake Hoffarber, Colton Iverson, Jamal Abu-Shamala and Damian Johnson on that list.
• Nolen dished out five assists and committed only one turnover against Indiana. Nolen has 28 career games with one turnover or less and Minnesota is 23-5 in those games.
• Nolen also had four steals in the game marking the sixth time this year he has registered four or more steals in a game.
• Ralph Sampson collected a career-high five offensive rebounds.
• Devoe Joseph’s nine points on the night were his second most in Big Ten play this season.
• Colton Iverson had two blocks this season. It marked the ninth time this year that he has accumulated multiple blocks in a game.