Francis scores 29 points, leads Rutgers over Minnesota 72-67 at Big Ten Tournament

CHICAGO (AP) — Tariq Francis scored 29 points to lead No. 14 seed Rutgers over 11th-seeded Minnesota 72-67 on Wednesday night in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Rutgers (14-18) faces sixth-seeded UCLA on Thursday.

Jamichael Davis hit a 3-pointer with 6:47 to play that gave Rutgers the lead for good. It was part of a 17-5 run that pushed the Scarlet Knights' advantage to 64-57 with 1:53 remaining. Emmanuel Ogbole's dunk capped the surge, and the Scarlet Knights then shot 8 of 8 from the free-throw line to seal it.

Francis shot 9 of 16 from the floor and made five 3-pointers. Davis added 13 points and hit three 3s to go with six assists. Ogbole finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Harun Zrno also made two 3s to help Rutgers set a program record with 10 made 3-pointers in a conference tournament game.

Cade Tyson scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half for Minnesota (15-17). Bobby Durkin added 15 points and Grayson Grove 10.

Grove scored all 10 of his points in the first half for Minnesota, which shot 52% (12 of 23) for a 31-29 halftime lead. Francis made four 3s and scored 16 points for Rutgers.

Minnesota won at home in the regular-season matchup against Rutgers, 80-61.

Up next

Rutgers plays on Thursday against No. 6 seed UCLA, which beat the Scarlet Knights 98-66 on Feb. 3.

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