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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Aaron Robinson hit six 3-pointers to finish with 19 points, Jeff Hagen added 18 and Minnesota opened Big Ten play with its ninth-straight victory, beating Penn State 83-62 on Saturday night.
The Gophers' winning streak is the longest under head coach Dan Monson, whose team continued its surprising start and hasn't lost since falling 70-69 to Florida State on Nov. 30. Minnesota last won nine in a row in 1997, when the Gophers had 12 straight victories. That season was wiped from the record books, though, after the Clem Haskins academic fraud scandal.
Minnesota (11-3, 1-0 Big Ten) entered the season with extremely low expectations with the loss of forward Kris Humphries to the NBA, point guard Adam Boone to a torn biceps tendon and guard Moe Hargrow to ineligibility.
Only five lettermen are back from last year's team. But Robinson and Hagen _ two of those lettermen _ provided Minnesota the impressive outside-inside combination on Saturday night the Gophers badly lacked in recent seasons.
Vincent Grier, a junior college transfer who has led the Gophers in scoring this season, had 13 points, including a thundering one-handed baseline dunk that gave Minnesota a 59-34 lead with 13:47 to play.
Robinson went 6-for-11 from the floor and added a free throw. His final three came on a four-point play to make it 50-30 as Minnesota began pulling away early in the second half.
Penn State (6-9, 0-2) looked disoriented on offense. The Nittany Lions played without guard Marlon Smith, who didn't make the trip due to an illness. Smith is averaging 11.8 points per game, although it's doubtful he could've made a difference against Minnesota's tight man-to-man coverage.
Although they had four players in double figures, the Lions shot a paltry 18-for-52 from the floor, including 6-for-22 from 3-point range. Travis Parker led Penn State with 13 points while Aaron Johnson and Geary Claxton each had 12.
Both teams started hot from the floor but lost their scoring steam midway through the first half. Minnesota started the game 7-for-11 from the field and held a 20-14 lead at the 14:00 mark.
Penn State was held without a field goal for the final 10:09 of the first half after Ben Luber's 3-pointer pulled the Lions to 22-19. The Lions managed only nine made free throws and the Gophers closed the half on a 17-7 run to lead 41-28 at halftime.
