The Minnesota Gophers were back at it fresh off finals week taking on the Farleigh Dickinson University Knights (FDU). It took both teams a while to get going as Minnesota didn’t score a point in the first two and a half minutes. After a couple of missed shots and some turnovers, LuCye Patterson hit his first shot making it 3-0 Gophers. The first half was full of turnovers, missed shots, and missed opportunities for both teams, with each team trading buckets. Seven lead changes later, Chidube Ekwommadu made the final basket to end the first half with the Knights leading 21-20.
Gophers Pull Away in Second Half
The second half started pretty closely contested similarly to the first half. The Gophers eventually went on a 15-0 run to make it a 45-30 score. Big shots from Seniors Dawson Garcia and Lu’Cye Patterson helped propel the Gophers to a nonconference win at home in Williams Arena.
The Gophers were led by Dawson Garcia, who stuffed the stat sheets with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists while shooting a good percentage of 6-11 from the floor. Mike Mitchell Jr also chipped in with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Four out of the five Gophers were in double figures for scoring. The Gophers improve to 7-5 overall.
The Knights were led by senior guard Ahmed Barba-Bey, who had 15 points and went 5-9 shooting. Jo’el Emmanuel had a double-double himself with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Knights fall to 4-10 on the season.
Minnesota Gophers Road Ahead
The Gophers will have to wait eight days until their next game. They will take on another nonconference opponent, Morgan State, before starting their treacherous Big Ten schedule. The Gophers are currently 0-2 in the Big Ten conference losing at home to Michigan State and on the road against Indiana.
The Road Ahead for the Knights
FDU will play on the road against Boston College next Saturday 12/28. The Knights have lost all 9 of their games on the road so far and have lost 6 out of their last 7 games. The Knights Are also towards the last in the conference in points against giving up 80.1 PPG.
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