On the state's coldest day in a generation, the University of Minnesota men's basketball team defeated the University of Illinois 86-75 Wednesday night.
Amir Coffey led five double-digit scorers with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Senior forward Jordan Murphy, who owns the program record for career double-doubles, posted another one with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The win avenged an stunning loss to the previous winless Illini. The Gophers lost 95-86 in Champaign exactly two weeks before the rematch at Williams Arena.
"Probably not as much as you'd think," head coach Richard Pitino said on if the loss stuck with his players. "I think kids are a little bit different these days. They move on pretty quickly. It weighed on me pretty good."
The athletics department provided fans with a phone number if their needed vehicle assistance on the night where temperatures sat at nearly 20 below zero at tip.
"Our fans get a lot of crap for some reason, I'm not sure why," Pitino said. "No place in the country would show up with that amount of fans in this weather. It's probably because no place in the country has this weather, so maybe that has something to do with it as well. Thank you to our fans. I truly, truly appreciate it."
