Gophers-UMD Hoops Exhibition

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth played its second of three exhibitions against NCAA I competition on Wednesday night, and the University of Minnesota defeated the Bulldogs 95-68 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

“I don’t think we were ever in jeopardy of winning the game,” said head coach Matt Bowen as UMD fell to 0-2 in its exhibition season against the top level of NCAA competition. “We don’t play in the ACC or the Big Ten. We are in the Northern Sun [Intercollegiate Conference], and we will find out as we start in conference and in Division II whether this schedule was worth while and whether we learned anything from the experience.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior guards Taylor Lavery and Brendon Pineda put together strong games for UMD. Lavery was hot from beyond the arc in the second half with five three-pointers (15 points), while Pineda turned a nine-point opening half into a team-high 17-point game. UMD’s third junior transfer, Pierre Newton just missed a double-double with 10 rebounds and nine points.
• Junior transfer Carlos Morris had a game-high 23 points for Minnesota as five Gophers reached double digits. Senior big man Elliot Eliason had a game-high 16 rebounds.

Minnesota opened with a newcomer-heavy line-up as all four of Richard Pitino’s additions started alongside senior guard Andre Hollins. UMD answered with the returning Ervin, Zoelle, and its three junior transfers. The Bulldogs took the first lead of the game when Ervin launched a three-pointer off a Gopher turnover. The two teams combined to shoot 6-of-16 in the opening four minutes as UMD held a slight 7-6 edge leading into the game’s first timeout as Minnesota subbed in more of its primary starting line-up. The Gophers took their first lead of the game just past the five-minute mark on a putback by sophomore Daquein McNeil.

The Bulldog offense went quiet as Minnesota’s came alive, scoreless on their next eight attempts as Minnesota expanded its lead to 15-7 leading into a timeout at the midpoint of the period. A jumper by Ervin broke the scoring drought just past the 11:30 mark, but the Gophers continued to expand on their lead, scoring on their next five possessions. Pineda broke an 0-for-7 streak from three-point range, trimming the Gophers lead to to 26-12 but they expanded into the end of the half with a 46-25 edge at the break. UMD did pull down eight defensive rebounds in the opening frame, but Minnesota didn’t give them many chances, shooting 59.4 percent in the first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs settled for too many jumpshots in first half and shot just 29.0 percent to open the game with the Gophers hauling down 16 boards on the defensive end before the half.

UMD came out of the locker room with new life and once again opened the period with an scoring edge, 9-8 before the first media timeout. Lavery dropped a trio of three-pointers to keep the Bulldogs even with Minnesota leading into a Gopher timeout just under six minutes into the half. Minnesota expanded its lead with a 9-1 run with just 2:30 coming off the game clock. The other 17:30 of the half, UMD outscored the Gophers 42-40. The Bulldogs emptied the bench in the final minutes as eight players scored at least a basket on the night. UMD improved its shooting in the second half to 45.5 percent while Minnesota stayed hot, 19-of-33 to finish at 58.5 percent for the game.

“I was scared to play them because they pass the ball well. They shoot it from five different positions and run that pure motion’ that is so hard,” said Coach Pitino after the game. “They’ll be a tough match-up. Coach does a really good job. They played hard to the end. They’re disciplined, they play hard, and they play together, which is good.”

UP NEXT
UMD will officially begin its season next week at the Southwest Baptist University Tournament in Bollivar, Missouri against the host-Bearcats and Lincoln (Mo.) University. The Bulldogs and Tigers will tip the season Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m