The No. 6 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers are advancing in the 2012 National Invitational Tournament, knocking off the No. 2 seeded Miami (FL) Hurricanes on Monday night, 78-60. The Golden Gophers will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday against No. 4 seeded Middle Tennessee from the Sun Belt Conference, who upset the SEC's Tennessee earlier in the night, 71-64.
Minnesota jumped out to a 12-0 lead on the Hurricanes and never trailed in their 18-point win. Miami answered the 12-0 run with an 11-0 run of their own, but the Gophers kicked it into another gear and held a double-digit lead for most of the game.
Junior guard Rodney Williams scored eight of the Gophers first 12 points and finished with a game-high 21 on 9-for-10 shooting. Andre Hollins and Joe Coleman added 14 points apiece and the Gophers shot 60-percent for the game.
Tip time for the quarterfinals match up vs. Middle Tennessee is 7 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN2. Winner will play the winner of the Oregon-Washington game.
For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. You can also learn more about college basketball around the nation at SB Nation's College Basketball hub.