The Minnesota Gopher men’s basketball team faded a bit in the second half but held on to beat the University of New Orleans 80-65 at Williams Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Mo Walker started his first game as a Gopher and he responded with 11 points. He was one of six Gophers in double figures. Andre Hollins led the way with 18 and Austin Hollins added 13.
Walker also did his job on the glass, he grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Gophers efforts on the glass.
Minnesota built an 18 point lead at the break 41-23. But New Orleans chipped away at the Gopher lead in the second half and cut it all the way down to eight at the 3:33 mark on a layup by Kevin Hill to make it 69-61 on the heals of a 15-5 run, according to the Star Tribune.
However, Minnesota was able to push the lead back out to 15 to close out the game.
Cory Dixon led the way for the Privateers he finished with 16 points, while Matt Derenbecker added 14.
It was the third straight win for Minnesota who also beat Florida State earlier this week.
The Gophers host South Dakota State on Tuesday.
