#Gophers WIN! Team led by King's 22 points. #RaiseTheBarn pic.twitter.com/stETJ7wnac
— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) November 14, 2015
The Minnesota Gophers opened their season with a 76-58 victory over Missouri-Kansas City Friday night at ‘The Barn.’
1. Kings court
Senior Joey King was 6-of-9 from the three-point line and scored 22 points to lead the Gophers. On a team filled with freshmen and sophomores, King is the elder statesman and did his part by making some big shots in the second half.
Overall, King was 7-of-10 from the floor and grabbed four rebounds.
2. Dialing long distance
King wasn’t the only Gopher hitting threes. As a team, Minnesota knocked down 12 of them on the night.
Carlos Morris and Nate Mason each hit a pair of threes, while Charles Buggs and Jordan Murphy had one each.
As a team the Gophers were 12-of-28 from the three-point line.
3. Slow to go
The Gophers trailed by as many nine twice in the first half. The Star Tribune notes that the Minnesota struggled to handle the Kangaroos 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses.
But after the Gophers fell behind 20-11, they responded with a 14-2 run including eight straight points by Nate Mason alone.
Tweet of the Night:
Two handed throw down for Buggs!
Dropping the dime! @GopherMBB's Kevin Dorsey throws a perfect pass to Charles Buggs for the big two-handed flush https://t.co/cgCn9PgOIe
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) November 14, 2015
Next up:
The Gophers (1-0) host Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday afternoon at ‘The barn.’
