• The Gophers had squandered a 39-26 lead over Bemidji State in their 1st exhibition, as the Beavers fought to within 47-40 at 10:10. A 10-0 run with 4 different players scoring put Minnesota back in charge. Most of the points came on 7-of-8 FT shooting.
• The Gophers led Augustana by as much as 48-40 in the 2nd half, but Augie had come within 3 at 63-60 with 4:29 on the clock. A 9-0 run to the final buzzer gave Minnesota the win. This time, Trevor Mbakwe scored 7 of the 9 including 3-for-3 from the line. As a team the Gophers were 5-of-7 from the line during the run. Minnesota also blocked 2 shots down the stretch.
• Minnesota led Bucknell 39-35 early in the 2nd half, but fell behind 53-48 with just 5:53 to play. A 22-5 run to the buzzer made it a 70-58 final. Mbakwe scored 9 and Austin Hollins 8 of the 22, and 3 other players scored. The Gophers made 18-of-their-last-21 FT attempts including a rare 3-for-3 by Austin that made it 58-53 with 2:35 left. There were 2 blocks and a steal during the run.
This time Maverick Ahanmisi keyed the Gophers' winning burst with a much-needed 3, then he added an assist and a steal and 2 FT. 7 different players scored, but 13 of the 18 points came from the bench. In addition to Ahanmisi's 5, there was a 3 by Oto Osenieks, a 2+1 by Joe Coleman, a 2 by Andre Ingram. And Chip Armellin chipped in with 2 assists, a block and a board. Minnesota made 5-of-7 FG and 6-of-7 throws. There were 4 steals and 2 blocks, so defense again was a big part of the run.
Nate Wolters had given the Jackrabbits a shot. He scored 10 points in each half, but 8 of his 2nd half points came on 3-of-5 shooting in the 1st 3-and-a-half minutes. He would make only 1 bucket over the final 16:26. SDSU also somehow dominated the rebounding. By game's end it was 37-33 for the Jackrabbits, but at one point it was 27-17. The final count off the offensive glass was 13 for SDSU, 6 for Minnesota, and the 2nd chance points were 15-6 in favor of the Jacks.
Minnesota led on points off turnovers 14-10, however, and 32-22 on points in the paint.
Mbakwe made 6-of-7 shots and led the way with 17 points, 10 boards and 4 blocks. But he sure doesn't get many touches on the offensive end, and if people like Augustana and South Dakota State can deny him the ball in the paint, how much is he going to be handling the ball down low in the Big 10. The one guy who seems to have a knack for getting the ball to Mbakwe is Ralph Sampson. So a little 2-on-2 seems to be in order. Tubby needs to figure out something to get Mbakwe more touches and more shots.
Ralph Sampson made 5-of-7 for 10 points. Rodney Williams had a nice floor game with 7 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and he was a little more aggressive than he's been on the offensive end.
The Gophers lost the possession game, but out-shot their opponents, 57 percent to 30 percent. In particular, Minnesota made 21-of-33 2-pointers, while SDSU made only 13-of-32 (41 percent) from inside the arc. There was no advantage, surprisingly, from beyond the arc. Minnesota was 6-of-14, SDSU 6-of-20. Each team made 11-of-21 throws.
Ahanmisi was the Gophers' player of the game for sparking the Gophers' winning run but Nate Wolters was the best player on the court.
The Gophers' minutes looked something like this:
C Sampson 28 Mbakwe 8 Eliason 4
PF Mbakwe 25 Osenieks 9 Ingram 5 Halvorsen 1
SF Rodney 32 Coleman 6 Osenieks 2
PG Austin 9 Welch 17 Ahanmisi 13 Shell 1
SG Andre 11 Amellin 19 Austin 9 Coleman 1
Armellin, Coleman and Ingram all had their best game of this season. Armellin in particular with 9 points, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block.
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