Yanic Konan Niederhauser scores 24 points and Penn State defeats Minnesota 69-60

MINNEAPOLIS -- — Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 24 points, Penn State had a dominant 17-minute stretch in the middle of the game, and the Nittany Lions defeated Minnesota 69-60 on Saturday.

The Gophers led 24-15 after Lu'Cye Patterson's 3-pointer with nine minutes remaining in the first half but they managed just two free throws by Dawson Garcia the remainder of the half. The Nittany Lions scored the last seven points and led 28-26 at halftime. Konan Niederhauser scored 14 points in the half.

After the Golden Gophers missed their last 13 shots of the first half, they made their first four after halftime and led 35-33 with 17 minutes remaining. However, they went the next 6 1/2 minutes without a point, missing nine shots and falling behind 46-35. Penn State's 13-0 run was led by Konan Niederhauser with six points.

Spanning the two halves, the Nittany Lions allowed 11 points over a 17-minute stretch and in large part maintained a double-digit lead until the final 3 1/2 minutes. Minnesota then made six free throws in an 8-0 run to get within three points at 60-57 with 1:44 to go.

Penn State then finished off the win when Ace Baldwin Jr. and Nick Kern combined to make six free throws followed by a dunk-and-one by Konan Niederhauser.

Baldwin had 10 points and seven assists, and Freddie Dilione V also scored 10 points for the Nittany Lions (15-13, 5-12 Big Ten).

Femi Odukale had 15 points for Minnesota (14-13, 6-10) and Garcia had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Patterson, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Isaac Asuma scored 10 points each.

Penn State has back-to-back wins after losing seven in a row.

Minnesota hosts Northwestern on Tuesday.

Penn State visits Indiana on Wednesday.

------ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball