Another strong effort by the freshmen starters in Richard Pitino’s lineup as the Gophers defeated the Utah Utes 78-69 Monday night at Williams Arena.
Daniel Oturu, a freshman center from Cretin-Derham Hall, finished with 13 points and four blocks. The other true freshman in the starting lineup, shooting guard Gabe Kalscheur (DeLaSalle), connected on five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
All-Big Ten power forward Jordan Murphy, meanwhile, stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 17 rebounds and five assists. Murphy led the Big Ten with 24 double-doubles last season.
Amir Coffey added 14 points and six assists in his second game as Minnesota’s starting point guard.
Great team win. Thank you so much to all the fans who showed up and supported. Student section was awesome. Nothing like the Barn. Lot of good things and still a long way to go. On to the next one! #SkiUMah
— Richard Pitino (@LoboCoachPitino) November 13, 2018
Minnesota is now 2-0 with their next game coming Sunday at home against Texas A&M (1-1).
The Aggies just lost last weekend on a buzzer-beater against the University of California-Irvine, and they’ll enter Williams Arena just three days after facing No. 3-ranked Gonzaga on the road (Thursday).
