Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino was waiting and waiting for seniors Carlos Morris and Joey King to get his team going Friday afternoon against Nebraska Omaha.
Pitino had to bench his two captains to send a message.
Luckily for him it worked, and the Gophers escaped with a 93-90 victory over the Mavericks at Williams Arena.
King and Morris combined for 35 points, including 26 points in the second half. But Minnesota (4-2) nearly blew a seven-point lead in the final two minutes with dreadful free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Nate Mason went 0-for-4 from the foul line in crunch time.