MADISON, Wis. _ Last season, the Minnesota Gophers saw their best chance to get their first victory in Madison since 2009 slip away when they let the game go into overtime.
They wouldn't allow that to happen again.
Amir Coffey dominated the first half Thursday night when he scored 15 of his team-high 21 points for a 29-14 halftime lead, which led to boos coming from the Kohl Center crowd as Minnesota players celebrated heading to the locker room.
Despite nearly seeing a 15-point deficit erased in the second half, Minnesota's defense came up big in the clutch to hang on for the 59-52 victory against the No. 22 Badgers, ending an eight-game losing streak in the Border Battle series.
Jordan Murphy fouled out with just five points, while the Gophers (12-2, 2-1) clinged to a six-point lead just under four minutes to go in the game.
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino looked to Coffey to bail his team out of an offensive slump at the worst possible moment, but he couldn't dice up Wisconsin's defense as easily this time.
A shot high off the glass from D'Mitrik Trice shrunk the U's lead to 49-47, but Coffey responded with an off-balance lefty floater.
Dupree McBrayer's back-to-back steals were the difference, though, as they extended it to 55-47 with a minute remaining. McBrayer was the only other Minnesota player in double figures with 14 points.
The last time the Gophers came out victorious at Wisconsin was on Jan. 15, 2009 in a 78-74 overtime win, but they hadn't beaten a ranked Badgers squad on the road since 1994 _ and that was in the old Field House.
It didn't seem like either wanted to take control of the game early until Wisconsin went scoreless for nine minutes in the first half. Minnesota grabbed the momentum with a 12-0 run that was capped by a Dupree McBrayer free throw for a 14-6 lead.
Brevin Pritzl ended the drought for the Badgers with a 3-pointer, but less than a minute later Coffey started sizzling. A floater near the seven-minute mark gave him his first field goal, but he eventually scored on 3s, free throws and layups.
The 6-foot-8 sophomore outscored Wisconsin himself 15-14 by halftime, which continued his explosion from the previous Big Ten game in early December. Coffey had a career-high 32 points to help erase a 13-point second-half deficit in a Dec. 5 win against Nebraska at Williams Arena.
In the second half Thursday, Wisconsin cut a 15-point deficit to 31-26 after Trice's 3-pointer at 15:34. Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate transfer Brock Stull answered with consecutive 3s to stretch it out to a double-figure margin once again.
Still, the Badgers had another late surge in them with a second Trice 3-pointer making it 49-43.
Murphy, who had 10 rebounds, fouled out with 3:49 left, but Khalil Iverson missed both free throws. The Badgers, who lost their second straight game after falling at Western Kentucky, shot just 7-for-17 from the foul line in the game. Ethan Happ led Wisconsin (10-4, 2-1) with 17 points.
