Minnesota suffered their first defeat of the season on Monday night at the hands of the DePaul Blue Demons, 69-53.
The Gophers struggled to find offense throughout the night, shooting just 33% from the field, 25% from three, and 56% (13-of-23) from the free-throw line.
Minnesota trailed by as many as 19-points at 49-30 with 14:22 remaining in the game, but the Gophers put together a 12-2 run to cut their deficit to 51-42 with 9:43 remaining.
However, DePaul proved to be too much down the stretch as the Blue Demons were led in scoring by Javan Johnson with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Umoja Gibson had 14 points and eight assists for DePaul while Eral Penn notched a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Minnesota was led in scoring by Dawson Garcia 19 points and six rebounds. Freshman Pharrel Payne had 12 points and four rebounds, but committed a team-high five turnovers.
Ta'lon Cooper was the only other double-digit scorer for the Gophers, tallying 10 points and a team-high six assists.
Notes:
- DePaul shot 44% (28-of-64) while Minnesota shot 33% (18-of-54).
- DePaul out-rebounded Minnesota 48 to 32, that included 20 offensive rebounds for the Blue Demons.
- DePaul outscored Minnesota in the paint 36 to 26.
- DePaul also scored 18 second-chance points compared to just 9 for the Gophers.
- There were 11 fast break points scored for DePaul, compared to just 4 for Minnesota.
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