WASHINGTON _ When the Big Ten tournament bracket was released, the overwhelming reaction from Gophers fans was frustration having to play Michigan State for the third time.
The thought was the Spartans were a bad matchup because they beat Minnesota twice, including the Gophers' worst loss of the season _ 18 points in East Lansing on Jan. 11.
But Richard Pitino's squad is a much different team since the last meeting.
The fourth-seeded Gophers advanced to the conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 2010 with a 63-58 win against Michigan State on Friday at the Verizon Center.
The Gophers (24-8), who have won nine of their last 10 games, took advantage of the program's highest seed and a double-bye. They will play Michigan on Saturday (noon, CBS) with a chance to reach the championship game.
Reggie Lynch led Minnesota with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting and added five blocks, tying the school's conference-tournament record.
Gophers fans in attendance were concerned when Lynch left the court early in the second half after getting hit in the face by Spartans center Nick Ward on a foul.
Lynch followed the trainer into the hallway with a towel over his face. Once he went through concussion protocol, the 6-foot-10 junior returned to the game and his strong play.
Dupree McBrayer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Minnesota a 41-33 lead with 12:56 left in the second half. But the Spartans (19-14) tied it 49-49 after an alley-oop dunk by Miles Bridges five minutes later.
Bridges, who had 12 of his 20 points in the first half, was proving to be a problem again for the Gophers, who couldn't stop his highlight-reel dunks in a 65-47 loss at Michigan State.
But Lynch provided a spectacular slam of his own going baseline for a two-handed flush on two defenders to give Minnesota a 54-52 lead at 4:31. Lynch added two free throws and a Jordan Murphy dunk made it a six-point advantage at 2:40.
The Spartans cut it to 58-54 on Nick Wards basket, but they wouldn't get any closer.
After avoiding an early injury with Lynch, the Gophers received a blow when Akeem Springs left the game with an apparent right leg injury. The senior captain landed awkwardly going after a defensive rebound and needed assistance into the locker room.
Springs didn't return _ he was seen using crutches near the end of the game _ but he gave Minnesota an earlier lift with a buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 28-26 halftime lead.
Amir Coffey had 13 points and Murphy added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Gophers, who held Michigan State to 32.8 percent shooting from the field Friday.
Michigan, Minnesota's next opponent, used overtime to upset top-seeded Purdue, 74-70.
