Here are four things learned in the road win at Bryce Jordan Center: The Gophers struggled in the first half to defend a Penn State team playing without its 7-footer Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who was out with an ankle injury.

There was one caveat to the first half of the Gophers men’s basketball team’s Big Ten schedule was its overall difficulty. While Minnesota struggled, its early schedule was considered among the three toughest in the conference by analytics site KenPom.

It wasn't pretty, but the Gophers were able to take down Penn State 69-61 on the road Tuesday night for a much-needed conference win after consecutive losses to Michigan State and Washington. Minnesota faced an ailing Penn State team,