It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest game in a historic night at Williams Arena, but Minnesota secured win No. 10 of the season with an 86-67 win over North Carolina A&T. The win was Richard Pitino’s 100th win as Head Coach of the Golden Gophers in his sixth season in Dinkytown.
VIDEO: Pitino reacts to picking up win No. 100
Jordan Murphy was the star of the show on Friday night, scoring 30 points to go along with 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. Freshman Daniel Otutu added 20 points and Dupree McBrayer added 13 more. The Gophers as a whole shot 45.9-percent from the field and just 60.9-percent from the free throw line. Both are things Pitino wants to improve as Big Ten season quickly approaches.
Win No. 100 for Pitino comes in game No. 180 of his Gophers coaching career. Players–including Murphy–respect all that he has done and say how much of a father figure he is on and off the court.
VIDEO: Jordan Murphy talks about Pitino’s 100th win and how much the head coach means to the team
A quick holiday break awaits Minnesota before a Dec. 30 home game against Mount St. Mary’s. After that, the Gophers will travel to Madison for a huge battle against No. 16 Wisconsin on Jan. 3. The January schedule is one that will test Pitino and Co. as the Gophers also face No. 4 Michigan and No. 23 Iowa. A couple more wins like tonight and the Gophers will find themselves ranked in the top-25 as well.