MINNEAPOLIS _ Amir Coffey sensed his Gophers teammates desperately needed a first-half spark offensively, so he decided to completely take over the game Wednesday night against Niagara. The 6-foot-8 sophomore had a similar breakout half during an All-Big Ten freshman season last year with a 30-point performance against St. John's.
Coffey slowed down after halftime, but he scored 17 of his 18 points in the first half to ignite a 33-13 run that turned around a double-digit deficit in a 107-81 victory Wednesday against Niagara at Williams Arena.
Another Minnesota native had the game of his career.
Edina's Reggie Lynch came a block short of Minnesota's first triple-double since Mychal Thompson's against Ohio State in 1976 with a career-high 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocks.
It would get too close for comfort again in the second half when the Gophers saw a 17-point lead cut to 67-64 after Kahlil Dukes' jumper capped an 18-4 run, which included 14 straight Niagara points.
That's when Coffey and Lynch got some help.
Jordan Murphy (18 points and 11 rebounds) and Dupree McBrayer (14 points) also combined for 28 points in the second half, including 13 points during a 25-4 run that sealed the comeback victory.
Even the best teams suffer let downs. Minnesota (3-0) wasn't immune to it after an impressive 86-74 win at Providence on Monday in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
For the first time this season, the Gophers found themselves trailing big in the first half Wednesday facing a 10-point deficit against a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent that only won 10 games all last season. And that was Niagara's best season in four years.
This wasn't supposed to happen to the 14th-ranked team in the country, right? Well, Minnesota's players looked as bewildered as their fans when the Purple Eagles sank six 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes. Every shot was falling from everywhere.
But Coffey couldn't miss in the first half, either.
Niagara went up 25-15 when Coffey nailed his third 3-pointer of the game after a layup from Nate Mason to start the rally. Jamir Harris 3-pointer tied it at 30 near the seven-minute mark. And Reggie Lynch's dunk with less than a minute left gave Minnesota a 48-38 halftime lead.
Lynch had 12 points, a career-high five assists and four blocks in the first half, which made up for Murphy coming down to earth a bit after the Big Ten's leading scorer averaged 29 points through the first two games.
Murphy, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds against Providence, had just two points on 1-for-3 shooting in the first half. Coffey and Lynch picked up the scoring slack _ and so did the rest of Minnesota's starters until Murphy got back on track.
Richard Pitino's five starters combined for 82 points Wednesday, including 15 points and a career-high tying 11 assists from Nate Mason.
Dukes lead Niagara with 26 points on 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. The Purple Eagles went 11-for-27 from 3-point range and hung close on the boards 48-44.
The Gophers played their first of three straight home games before the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn after Thanksgiving.
