Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson wants to shield his players from feelings of anxiety over his uncertain job status.

“That’s something that they don’t need to think about,” Johnson told reporters on Friday. “Any player with any coach, any outside or undo pressure is not fair to them. That’s not their job or their worry or their concern. I just want them to focus on beings positive and as energetic and as enthusiastic and as competitive as they can be.”

As an eight-point road underdog at Nebraska on Saturday, Gophers players played loose early and fought late for their team and their coach. The U took an 19-point lead five minutes into the second half, and despite tightening up, they held on for a 67-65 win at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

Up 64-63 with 18 seconds left, Minnesota had a back-court clock violation for their 14th turnover of the game, and Juwan Gray’s put-back gave Nebraska a one-point lead.

But Brennan Rigsby’s 3-pointer from the wing, and Huskers’ Andrew Morgan’s off-the-mark heave at the buzzer, sealed the win for Minnesota

Coming off the bench, Rigsby finished with a career-high 20 points, including 5 of 6 from deep. After one big trey in the second half, he pumped up the Huskers crowd. After his game-winner, he waved to them.

Rigsby had a combined three points across his previous four appearances, but was a spark off the bench — akin to when he scored 14 points in the road win at Penn State on Feb. 3. He also got some redemption after a late shot attempt missed in a November game against Wichita State.

The Gophers (15-14, 7-11 Big Ten) snapped a 10-game losing streak at Nebraska since 2012, including 0-9 since the Cornhuskers’ new arena opened in 2013. They also helped their odds of making the 15-team Big Ten tournament.

Meanwhile, Nebraska (17-12, 7-11) suffered a huge blow to their on-the-bubble NCAA Tournament chances.

Minnesota also continues to puzzle. After losing Penn State and Northwestern at home in the last week, the U improved to 5-4 in Big Ten road games.

Rigsby’s trey from the left corner gave Minnesota a 62-57 lead with 2:12 remaining. On the preceding defensive play, Dawson Garcia “tweaked” his ankle, according to Johnson. He didn’t finish the game.

The Gophers led 35-26 at the half despite Garcia being scoreless. Rigsby (11 points), Femi Odukale (eight), Lu’Cye Patterson (seven) and Frank Mitchell (six) carried the scoring load in the opening 20 minutes.

Minnesota used a 10-0 run to open up its biggest lead, 33-17, but Nebraska closed the first half on a 6-0 spirt.

Odukale was especially important early; he had eight of Minnesota’s first 10 points.

Coming into Saturday’s game, Garcia and Brice Williams were tied for second in the Big Ten at 19.6 points per game, 0.3 behind Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli (19.9). Garcia got going early in the second half with seven points and finished with nine; Williams ended with 21.