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Minnesota gets its first Big Ten win of season with 68-63 upset of No. 6 Maryland

Minnesota's Nate Mason drives around Maryland's Rasheed Sulaimon during the second half of their game Thursday.

Minnesota’s Nate Mason drives around Maryland’s Rasheed Sulaimon during the second half of their game Thursday.

(Jim Mone / Associated Press)
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Nate Mason had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists to help Minnesota get its first Big Ten win of the season with a stunning 68-63 upset of No. 6 Maryland on Thursday night.

Jordan Murphy added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Joey King had 15 points and six boards for Minnesota (7-19, 1-13), which shot just 33%.

Rasheed Sulaimon scored 28 points for Maryland (22-5, 10-4), which has lost consecutive games thanks to another listless performance. Melo Trimble had 10 points on three-for-11 shooting and the Terrapins turned the ball over 15 times.

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The Williams Arena crowd stormed the court when time expired to celebrate Minnesota’s first Big Ten regular-season win since beating Michigan State on Feb. 26, 2015.

The Gophers hit seven of 10 three-point attempts in the first 10 minutes of the game to build an 11-point lead, and the Terrapins played like a team that looked at Minnesota’s record and figured showing up would be enough. Trimble missed seven of his first eight shots, the Terrapins gave up wide open shots on the perimeter one after another and hit only 35% in the first half to give the Gophers life.

at No. 8 Michigan State 69, Wisconsin 57: Denzel Valentine had 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, leading the Spartans to a victory over the Badgers.

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Michigan State (22-5, 9-5 Big Ten) went from eighth place in the conference into a four-way tie for fourth with their sixth win in seven games.

Michigan State’s Bryn Forbes scored 17 points and Eron Harris had 10.

Wisconsin (16-10, 8-5) had won seven straight games dating to its victory Jan. 17, at home against Michigan State.

Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ scored 18 points and Bronson Koenig had 12 with a scoring surge late in the game. Nigel Hayes was held to a season-low five points, 12 below his team-high scoring average, for the Badgers.

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at No. 14 Kentucky 80, Tennessee 70: Jamal Murray scored 28 points, Derek Willis made seven three-pointers for a career-high 25 and the Wildcats beat the Volunteers for their fourth straight victory.

Sixteen days after blowing a 21-point lead in an 84-77 loss at Tennessee, the Wildcats (20-6, 10-3 Southeastern Conference) held their ground this time against the Volunteers. Kentucky stretched a six-point halftime lead to as many as 22 for another double-digit win and has won by an average margin of 22.5 points during its streak.

Murray’s perimeter shooting helped set the tone before Willis got hot to make five from behind the arc in the second half. Armani Moore scored 21 points and Kevin Punter Jr. added 19 for Tennessee (12-14, 5-8 SEC), which got within 10 points in the final minute but really wasn’t that close in losing for the third time in four games since upsetting Kentucky.

at Connecticut 68, No. 21 Southern Methodist 62: Amida Brimah had 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks as the Huskies improved their NCAA tournament resume with a victory over the Mustangs.

Brimah was playing in his sixth game since returning from a broken finger.

Daniel Hamilton scored 14 points and made two key free throws late for the Huskies (19-7, 9-4 American) and Shonn Miller added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Nic Moore scored 14 points and Ben Moore had 13 points and 12 rebounds for SMU (21-4, 9-4).

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