Minnesota opened the season with a solid win over the Golden Eagles.
Dawson Garcia scored 30 and carried the Golden Gophers to a 80-57 win over the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts. After a slow start, Minnesota opened up a 12-2 lead and never were truly challenged from that point on. Parker Fox had a perfect night shooting, going 6/6 and finishing second on the team with 13 points.
THE STAT: It wasn’t just Garcia scoring Minnesota. As a team they shot over 57% from the field and 61% from three while holding Oral Roberts to 34.5% from the field. Fox didn’t miss a shot and freshman Isaac Asuma was also perfect from the field. A highly efficient offensive performance for Minnesota.
HOT: Garcia could not miss early on, he started the game 7/7 (3/3 from three) before missing his first shot in the final seconds of the first half. He finished the game 11/14 shooting, 30 points and eight rebounds.
NOT: Both teams started very slowly in this game, with no scoring in the first two minutes of the game. Garcia hit the game’s first field goal at the 17:59 mark.
NOTABLE: Mike Mitchell Jr scored his 1,000th collegiate point tonight. The senior had more assists (9) than points (7), but hit four digits for his career.
THE SUMMARY: A great start for the Gophers who have a number of unfamiliar faces and unknowns. What fans at the Barn (and on B1G+) saw was a team that moved the ball on offense efficiently and was very athletic defensively.
UP NEXT: On Saturday night the Gophers are facing Nebraska Omaha at The Barn.