Minnesota improved to 4-1 overall on the season on Tuesday night with an 86-67 win over visiting Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
The Gophers held a 59-41 lead with 14:59 remaining, then went cold from the field, prompting an Arkansas Pine-Bluff run that cut Minnesota's advantage to 61-53 with 10:19 remaining.
However, the Gophers finished on a 12-3 run and hit five of their last six shots from the field to pull away with victory.
Minnesota was led Dawson Garcia, who dropped 19 points and nine rebounds.
Joshua Ola-Joseph tallied 12 points and three boards while Elijah Hawkins chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds, and four assists.
Arkansas Pine-Bluff was lead by guard Rashad Williams, who scored 26 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He shot 6-of-11 from three-point range.
More notes:
- Minnesota outscored APB 40-26 in the paint
- The Gophers out rebounded APB 50-to-31, including 19 offensive boards
- Minnesota had 18 second-chance points, compared to nine for APB
- As much success Minnesota had in the paint, they were just 11-of-36 from three-point range
- The Gophers tallied 24 assists on 31-made shots
- Free-throw shooting improvement continues to show this season as Minnesota went 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the stripe
- Freshman guard Cam Christie had 14 points (4-of-6 from three), three rebounds, and four assists to lead the Gophers off the bench
- Cam Christie, Elijah Hawkins, Braeden Carrington, Isaiah Ihnen, and Mike Mitchell tallied four assists a piece
- Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen had six rebounds a piece
- Kadyn Betts scored his first points as a Gopher, registering three points and one rebound in seven minutes of action
UP NEXT: Minnesota will head to San Francisco to face the Dons at the Chase Center. So far on the season, San Francisco is 3-2 with wins over Bethesda, St. Francis (Pa.), and DePaul. Their losses include Boise State on the road and to Grand Canyon in Arizona. The Dons will play Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday before their showdown with the Gophers.
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