MINNEAPOLIS » Minnesota rolled into Williams Arena last night with a No. 15 ranking, its highest ever under coach Tubby Smith.

Mustapha Farrakhan and Virginia took care of that in a hurry.

Farrakhan scored a career-high 23 points and Mike Scott had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia to an 87-79 victory over the Golden Gophers.

Joe Harris scored 24 points and the Cavaliers (4-3) made 10 of 13 3-pointers to erase a 13-point first-half deficit and hand the Gophers (6-1) their first loss of the season.

"I think everybody thought we’d come in here and get blown out of the gym," Scott said. "I think the only ones who thought we could win was our coaches. They kept stressing that this was a tough place to play, whether they’re ranked or not, but they had confidence that we could win the game."

Trevor Mbakwe had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for Minnesota. But the Gophers scored just two points during a 7-minute span of the second half and couldn’t complete a furious rally in the final 5 minutes.

"That was probably as pathetic an effort defensively as we’ve had in a long time," Smith said. "But a lot of credit has to go to Virginia."

On a team with seven freshmen, it was the senior Farrakhan’s steadying presence and shot-making that stabilized them.

The Gophers led 14-5 early and were in control during a dominant first half.

That’s when coach Tony Bennett went to one of his three captains off the bench. The grandson of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Mustapha hit all four of his 3-pointers and scored 14 points in a span of 20 minutes to keep the Cavaliers from getting blown out.

"He had his flame thrower out tonight," Scott said of Farrakhan, who was held scoreless in a loss to Wichita State the last time out in a game in the Maui Invitational. "He was just shooting flames all over the place."

"I don’t pay attention (to the rankings)," Smith said. "But maybe our players do."

No. 5 Kansas State 85, Emporia State 61

Jacob Pullen broke the school record for career 3-pointers, leading the Wildcats to an easy victory over the Division II Hornets and giving K-State (6-1) their first six-win November.

No. 11 Baylor 90, Prairie View 45

LaceDarius Dunn had 20 points in his second game back for the Bears (5-0), while freshman Perry Jones had 16 points and 13 rebounds and the Bears beat the visiting Panthers (1-7).

WAC

Boise State 80, Northern Illinois 51

La’Shard Anderson scored 17 points and Westly Perryman added 14 to lead the Broncos (6-0) past the Huskies (2-3).