Rutgers visits Minnesota after Francis’ 22-point game

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-15, 4-11 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-14, 5-10 Big Ten)

Minneapolis; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Rutgers takes on Minnesota after Tariq Francis scored 22 points in Rutgers’ 85-72 win against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Golden Gophers are 10-4 in home games. Minnesota is 7-7 in games decided by at least 10 points.

The Scarlet Knights are 4-11 against Big Ten opponents. Rutgers is 7-9 in games decided by 10 or more points.

Minnesota scores 70.6 points per game, 4.9 fewer points than the 75.5 Rutgers gives up. Rutgers averages 70.6 points per game, 2.6 more than the 68.0 Minnesota gives up.

The Golden Gophers and Scarlet Knights meet Saturday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cade Tyson is scoring 19.2 points per game with 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Golden Gophers. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is averaging 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 40.7% over the last 10 games.

Harun Zrno averages 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Scarlet Knights, scoring 7.3 points while shooting 34.8% from beyond the arc. Francis is shooting 42.4% and averaging 20.8 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 2-8, averaging 66.7 points, 26.3 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.0 points per game.

Scarlet Knights: 3-7, averaging 72.6 points, 29.7 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 5.0 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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