Short-Handed Gophers Lose In Illinois

The Illinois Fighting Illini beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers 84-71 Sunday night in Champaign. The Gophers fall to 8-20 overall with the loss and are just 2-14 in the Big Ten Conference.

The Gophers were playing without leading scorer Nate Mason, Kevin Dorsey and Dupree McBrayer, all of whom were suspended by coach Richard Pitino shortly before the game for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Freshman Jordan Murphy led the Gophers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Joey King added 17 points in the loss.

The Gophers begin the last week of the regular season with a game at Wisconsin Wednesday night.