The Minnesota Golden Gophers toppled No. 6 Maryland Thursday night with a 68-63 win, earning their first conference win of the season. With a 7-19 record, the team has been a punching bag for most of its opponents, but after the game, senior forward Joey King turned into a tearful mess as he was interviewed.
The squad hadn’t won a game since Dec. 16, when the Gophers beat Chicago State, 70-52. Minnesota had lost 14 straight since then. A win of any kind would have come as a relief to the team, but a conference victory at home over a ranked opponent was clearly cathartic for King, who praised his teammates as tears streamed down his face.
King also thanked Minnesota’s fans for continuing to show up:
You know, there’s not too many fans that would come out day in and day out for an 0-13 team, so to have the kind of support we have here is just something really special. I mean, we haven’t had the best year, but we just kept fighting, and we knew we’d show up one of these nights, and to have it against Maryland, one of the top teams in the country, in front of our home crowd, it’s something they deserve. They’ve stuck with us all year.
Aw. Joey.
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