ROME, Italy - With three days of sightseeing behind them, the Minnesota men’s basketball team took to the court for the first time during their weeklong Italy tour Tuesday night, coming back from a big deficit to defeat Stella Azzurra Academy, 84-79.

Four Gophers reached double digits, led by 15 points from graduate student Alihan Demir. The Drexel grad was 7-of-11 from the field and also added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Joining him in double figures were sophomore Daniel Oturu and junior Payton Willis with 14 points and 12 points from sophomore Gabe Kalscheur. Sophomore Marcus Carr narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds to go with nine points.

“Offensively, we have a pretty good team,” said head coach Richard Pitino. “Defensively, we have a ways to go; we’re not real connected. If one mistake happens we have to learn how to make up for it. That was good competition for us.”

The Gophers trailed by double-digits after the first quarter of play, 32-20, but used a big second period to close to within three at the halftime intermission. Stella Azzurra, who had faced fellow Big Ten member Nebraska one day earlier, still led after three quarters but the Maroon and Gold outscored the hosts by six points in the final frame to take the win.

After starting their trip in the capital city of Rome, the Gophers head to Florence on Wednesday morning, where their next competition awaits one day later.

"Offensively, we have a pretty good team. Defensively, we have a ways to go; we're not real connected. If one mistake happens we have to learn how to make up for it. That was good competition for us."

"We haven't practiced for a while, have been touring around the city. It was good for us to get that competitive feeling back."

"Sam Freeman was great in the first half, played really, really hard. BJ (Greenlee) was terrific in the second half. Tre did a lot of good things. Isaiah's still a little bit hampered with an injury."

"It's been fun. We were going to practice yesterday but it was so hot, we canceled it. More than anything, for these guys to be in the Vatican, in the Coliseum, in the Forum -- those are life-changing moments for them. They're taking a lot of pictures and having a lot of fun. We move on to Florence tomorrow, which we're excited about."

-- Gophers dominated on the offensive boards. Alihan Demir in particular grabbed a lot.

-- Intensity, as you might expect, wasn't the same for Minnesota as it would have been in a Big Ten game -- slow to close out, not working hard to get around screens, no more than 2-3 passes per possession offensively. The Gophers' energy improved in the final minutes.

-- Marcus Carr created a lot of opportunities. Payton Willis and Bryan Greenlee shot the ball well.

-- Isaiah Ihnen left in the third quarter limping. Looked like maybe a quad or hammy.

-- Richard Pitino (I think?) got T'd up for rightly expressing frustration about what should have been a travel call. Certainly not as animated as in Big Ten games, though - I guess no arguing with refs in Europe.

-- Shot selection at times for the newcomers was questionable, which is normal.