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By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Vincent Grier had 16 of his 19 points in the second half, including a pair of steals he turned into fastbreak dunks that ignited Minnesota in a 77-63 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday.
Jeff Hagen scored a career-best 21 points for the Gophers (5-3), who used an 18-0 run in the middle of the second half to take control. Grier had eight points during that stretch, in which the Chippewas went nearly 5½ minutes without scoring.
The Gophers, playing without NCAA sanctions for the first time since Dan Monson took over as coach in 1999, won't win many pretty games this season with nine freshmen on the roster and only five returning lettermen from a team that went 12-18 in 2003-04.
They'll be relying mostly on hustle and defense, which is exactly what won them this game in the final 10 minutes. That and a 31-for-43 performance at the foul line, where Hagen went 11-for-13.
Central Michigan (4-3), which made 13 3-pointers in an 88-77 win over East Tennessee State on Tuesday, went 9-for-22 behind the arc and led 53-47 with 10:19 left on a 3-pointer by leading scorer Kevin Nelson _ who had 17 points.
The Chippewas have lost 16 straight road games, and they suddenly became shaky down the stretch as the Williams Arena crowd of 9,320 grew loud and the Gophers cranked up their perimeter defense. Twice, Grier stole the ball in the backcourt and cruised the other way for an emphatic dunk.
Robert Sevalia added 14 points for Central Michigan, which was outrebounded 38-25 and went 8-for-15 from the free-throw line.
Loose balls were prevalent in a ragged first half, and a consistently tight Chippewa defense kept the Gophers from finding many openings _ many times settling for contested outside shots.
Three consecutive 3-pointers put Central Michigan ahead 17-11 midway through, but Minnesota _ which missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts _ crept back at the free-throw line.
The Chippewas could've taken a larger lead into the locker room, but four missed foul shots in five attempts during the final 41 seconds left the score at 32-30. Central Michigan went 4-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half.
This was the first time these schools met for a men's basketball game. The Chippewas are 2-6 against Big Ten opponents under coach Jay Smith, the last win coming at Michigan in Dec. 2002.
The Gophers started a stretch of eight straight home games and don't play on the road until Jan. 15.
