By: Jack Satzinger
CHICAGO — Minnesota spent more than 20 minutes of play going back and forth with the worst team in its conference on Wednesday night.
Then the Gophers (18-14, 6-12 Big Ten) received a spark from an unlikely character — junior forward Joey King — running past Rutgers for a 80-68 victory in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to set up a Thursday night contest with Ohio State.
“[It’s] another opportunity at life,” senior guard DeAndre Mathieu said. “It’s life or death right now.”