Cyclones’ coach Greg McDermott had no answer for Lawrence McKenzie, literally.

The senior guard had a season-high 29 points in the Gopher’s 68-58 victory.

“Rahshon Clark is the one guy that can guard him,” McDermott said.

A Minnesota switch on offense prevented that from happening most of the game.

Clark, along with juniors Sean Haluska and Bryan Petersen, took their turns

guarding the senior. All three couldn’t stop the guard who connected on 5-of-9

three point attempts.

“I think I just got into a nice flow,” McKenzie said. “Hit a couple of shots

and the confidence went up.”

Several of his shots did more than give him confidence. The senior hit a three

with 8:59 remaining in the second half to give Minnesota a 48-56 lead.

After that, McKenzie and the Gophers never looked back. He added another three

pointer that bounced off the rim of the basket and circled around before

falling in, giving the Gophers a 62-53 lead.

“Every time we made a mistake on McKenzie he made us pay for it,” McDermott

said.

His 29 point performance came a week after only connecting for two points

against Army. Playing only 24 minutes, the senior came up with two assists and

steal. Tuesday, he returned to form as the guard who averaged 26.2 points per

game in three seasons with Oklahoma and Minnesota with 24 points in the second

half.

“I was not surprised by that performance he put on in the second half,” said

Minnesota senior center Spencer Tollackson.

Tollackson wasn’t surprised, but Cyclones’ freshman Craig Brackins was impressed.

“He can shoot it, (he can get to the hole),” Brackins said. “He’s real good.”