PISCATAWAY -- What started as a near-turnover for Minnesota ended up as a surefire candidate for the SportsCenter Top 10 at the expense of Rutgers senior center C.J. Gettys.
Near the end of the first half of Minnesota's 72-63 victory Saturday at Rutgers Athletics Center, Jordan Murphy tipped a loose ball up in the air to himself as Corey Sanders went flying past looking for a steal at midcourt.
Murphy corralled the ball, dribbled past Deshawn Freeman and into the lane, where he took steps inside the free-throw line and threw down a thunderous dunk over Gettys.
Rather than going for the blocked shot, the 7-foot Gettys set himself up to take the charge and appeared to be in pretty good position. To add insult to insult, Gettys was called for a blocking foul, though Murphy failed to complete the three-point play at the free-throw line.
Rutgers fans seated behind the basket couldn't hide the shock on their faces -- or disagreement with the official's call -- after the play.
It wasn't the only time that Gettys, has 24 blocks in 26 games this season, had to defend the rim against an attacking Murphy.
"Wow! Murphy says, 'Take that!" is how ESPNU play-by-play voice Clay Matvich called it over the air.
Gettys, a graduate transfer from UNC-Wilmington, took the play in stride, knowing that he likely will end up on the wrong end of a poster somewhere in Gophers country. He sent out two postgame Tweets shrugging off the dunk in good spirits.
lol it's basketball, you're bound to get dunked on. Life goes on [?]
-- C.J. Gettys (@gettys23) February 11, 2017
No such thing as bad publicity.
-- C.J. Gettys (@gettys23) February 11, 2017
Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.
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