Minnesota pulls away in 2nd half for 69-61 win

(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

By ERIC OLSON

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Reserve guard Chip Armelin scored 15 points and Minnesota took advantage of Nebraska's poor shooting in the second half to pull away for a 69-61 victory on Sunday.

Maverick Ahanmisi converted a three-point play and Andre Hollins made a 3-pointer at the start of a 9-0 burst that broke a tie and put Minnesota (17-7, 5-6 Big Ten) up 48-39 with 7:22 left.

Nebraska (11-11, 3-8) led 33-32 at halftime, but went 2 for 16 to start the second half and had a stretch of 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal.

The Gophers extended their lead to double digits when Armelin threaded an underhand pass along the baseline to Ahanmisi for a layup.

Nebraska, out of timeouts the last 3:52, got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Bo Spencer had 18 points, Toney McCray 15 and Brandon Richardson 10 for the Huskers.

Updated February 5, 2012