Make it back-to-back wins for the Gophers after last week’s loss to Missouri in which they blew a 20-point lead with under 12 minutes left in the game. On Saturday the Gophers dumped South Carolina Upstate 67-53 and on Tuesday night they dismantled Arkansas-Pine Bluff 86-67.
Minnesota (4-1) built a 21-point lead in the first half and led by 18 midway through the second half before the Golden Lions (3-3) went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 10 points at 59-49 with 11:09 to go.
Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 19 points and 9 rebounds and freshman Cam Christie scored 14 points off the bench including going 4-of-6 from 3. Josh Ola-Joseph scored 12 points including a trio of powerful dunks.
Nine different players scored for the Gophers, including redshirt freshman Kadyn Betts, the former 4-star recruit who scored his first career points when he was among a group of five players head coach Ben Johnson brought off the bench after the starting five struggled for two straight minutes to start the second half.
Up next: Minnesota vs. San Francisco, Sunday, Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
