Jordan Murphy recorded his seventh straight double-double to start the season and No. 14 Minnesota held off No. 25 Alabama 89-84 on Saturday…
Jordan Murphy recorded his seventh straight double-double to start the season and No. 14 Minnesota held off No. 25 Alabama 89-84 on Saturday in the championship game of the Barclays Center Classic.
The game was marred by an ugly incident that left the Crimson Tide with only three players to finish the game.
Ten Alabama players left the bench during a scuffle in the second half and were ejected with 13 minutes left in the game, leaving the Crimson Tide with only five players.
Minutes after the scuffle, Dazon Ingram fouled out and John Petty turned an ankle, forcing Alabama to finish the game with just three players.
The Crimson Tide were making a run early in the second half and cut the Minnesota lead to 57-50 with 13:43 to play after Riley Norris knocked down a 3-pointer.
Chaos followed, with several players getting into a shoving match and drawing the Crimson Tide bench onto the court.
Despite playing with just three players, Alabama (5-1) cut the Minnesota lead to 83-80 with less than two minutes in the game.
Amir Coffey converted a three-point play and Dupree McBrayer made a pair of free throws to seal the win for the Gophers.
Murphy finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Nick Mason added 20 points for the Gophers (7-0).
Collin Sexton, one of three Alabama players to finish the game, scored 40 points.
Minnesota owned the first half, storming out to a 19-5 lead, behind 10 quick points from Murphy.
The Gophers never trailed in the first half and took a 41-29 lead into halftime.
Murphy had 19 points and 12 rebounds in the first half.
NOTES: Saturday’s game against No. 25 Alabama was the first of two straight against ranked teams for Minnesota. The Gophers host No. 11 Miami on Wednesday.… This was the third meeting between the two programs, with Alabama winning the previous two games.… The Crimson Tide return home to host Louisiana Tech on Wednesday.
