Minnesota’s Murphy ties career high with 21 rebounds

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The Minnesota Golden Gophers couldn’t afford to let another easy game get away from them.

They were routed by Illinois last Wednesday and on Saturday, they were trailing Penn State at the half at home.

Jordan Murphy, a Minnesota senior from San Antonio’s Brennan High School, knew what he had to do after talking to Gophers coach Richard Pitino.

“Coach just told me to keep my mind on rebounding because I was too much in my head in the first half,” Murphy told the Associated Press. “He just told me to keep my mind on rebounding, just getting stops, then everything else would follow, so that’s what I did.”

Murphy finished with 19 points and tied a career high with 21 boards as the Gophers came from behind to down the Nittany Lions, 65-64.

The Gophers (14-4, 4-3) are projected as a No. 9 seed in the latest bracket projections at cbssports.com leading into a Tuesday night challenge at Michigan.

Murphy is among the nation’s top rebounders at 12.1 per game.