Both the University of Minnesota men’s and women’s basketball teams won their second-round games in the National Invitation Tournament Sunday. The two teams played back to back at Williams Arena — the men’s game was first, followed by the women.
NIT: Gophers 63, St. Mary’s 55
The Gopher men notched a 63-55 victory over St. Mary’s Sunday afternoon.
Minnesota spotted St. Mary’s a 14-0 lead because it couldn’t score in the first 6 minutes of game, but caught up and took its first lead 29-28 early in the second half, the Star Tribune reports.
The Gophers (22-13) then went on a 12-0 run and held off the Gaels (23-12) down the stretch to earn a trip to the NIT’s third round.
Joey King led Minnesota with 18 points. DeAndre Mattieu scored 14 and Austin Hollins added 10.
Stephen Holt led the scoring for St. Mary’s with 24 points.
The Gophers will host Southern Mississippi on Tuesday evening at Williams Arena, the Pioneer Press reports. The winner of that game will head to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
WNIT: Gophers 77, Southern Methodist 70
The Gopher women defeated Southern Methodist 77-70 in their game, which was also at Williams Arena.
The Gophers withstood a late rally by Southern Methodist to hold on for the second-round win.
Sari Noga scored a career-high 22 points, and four other players scored in double figures.
For the Mustangs, Keena Mays accounted for nearly half of their scoring output as she scored 34 points along with a team-high nine rebounds.
Minnesota (22-12) moves onto the third round of the WNIT. The Gophers will travel to South Dakota State to play the Jackrabbits on Thursday at 7 p.m.
