The Minnesota Golden Gophers picked up their second-straight win and fourth of the 2024-25 season on Monday night at Williams Arena. The Gophers defeated the Horizon League's Cleveland State Vikings 58-47.

Minnesota was led offensively by senior forward Parker Fox and Oregon transfer, senior guard Brennan Rigsby.

Fox led all scorers in the game with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Rigsby had 13 points including 10 first-half points, he did struggle in the second half, however, making just 1of-5 shots from the field.

Dawson Garcia for the first time this season failed to score 20 points, finishing with 13 points on a rough night from the floor. The senior forward was 4-for-10 from the field but did make all five of his free throw attempts in the win.

Femi Odukale struggled to make an impact when it came to scoring but was fantastic in his rebounding effort with a team-leading 12 rebounds.

For the game, the Gophers shot 38.5% from the field as they continue to struggle to find a groove this season when it comes to their shooting. They were notably 3-for-15 from beyond the arc but had a strong day from the free throw line, making 15-of-19 attempts.

The first six minutes of Monday night's game was a quiet one for the Gophers, only getting a pair of baskets in the opening minutes after missing their first five shots but the Gophers would begin to find their footing around the 13:00 minute mark of the first half.

After missing nine of their first 11 shots, the Gophers finished the half by making seven of their last 12.

It would be largely a back-and-forth first half of action, neither team being able to grab a leader bigger than five points while both teams also saw small runs. Minnesota after trailing 8-4 with 14:37 to go would go on a quick 5-0 run to take a 9-8 lead.

The Vikings would reclaim the lead quickly afterward before Minnesota using another 5-0 run recaptured the lead at 16-13 with 9:29 to go. Cleveland State coming off a win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday played with confidence throughout Monday's contest and wouldn't go down quietly.

The Vikings continued to battle, regaining the lead with 6:46 left in the half and holding it until the final two minutes. The Gophers then used a 6-0 run, highlighted by a Parker Fox dunk and four Dawson Garcia free throws, to edge ahead. Cleveland State answered yet again, briefly retaking the lead.

In the final moments of the half, Parker Fox hit his first career three-pointer on a buzzer-beater, giving the Gophers a 31-29 lead at halftime.

After Fox's buzzer-beater to close out the first half, the Gophers would never trail again on Monday. While Cleveland State would tie the game four times in the second half, the Gophers much like the Vikings did in the first half would always answer back.

The Gophers would take the lead for good with 11:03 remaining on Monday thanks to a Dawson Garcia layup to start an 11-3 run that lasted seven minutes and saw the Gophers grow their lead to as much as eight points with under five minutes to play.

Cleveland State would respond with a 5-0 run to cut that lead back down to three but the Gophers were not going to leave any doubt on Monday night of who was going to come out on top. Over the final three-and-half minutes of action, Minnesota finished the game on an 8-0 run to defeat the Vikings 58-47.

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