Story by
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Men’s basketball: Gophers plucky in 2OT loss at Creighton
- Story byPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
- Men’s basketball: Gophers plucky in 2OT loss at Creighton
In its final exhibition game Friday, the Gophers men's basketball continued the pluckiness it showed last season.
Creighton took an 18-point lead, 49-31, early in the second half, but Minnesota fought back to force overtime by keeping the Bluejays without a bucket over the final seven minutes of regulation.
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Creighton guard Wes Enis' 3-pointer with 14 seconds left forced a second OT, and the Bluejays outlasted Minnesota in that additional five minutes to win, 89-86, at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb.
Like last year, the Gophers battled while shorthanded. Kyan Evans injured his right hip during the first half. After playing 13 minutes early, the North Carolina transfer did not play in the second half.
"We faced some adversity right away," head coach Niko Medved said. "We got down big. Our starting point guard gets hurt and we challenged the guys at halftime. I really love the way we responded. I thought we showed a lot of toughness. Our defense really picked up."
Evans was held out for "precautionary reasons," a U spokesperson said Friday.
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In the final 90 seconds of regulation, backup guard Kai Shinholster scored on two drives to give Minnesota the lead twice, but after Creighton tied the game, he missed another layup and jumper that would have won the game.
Fellow starting guard Isaac Asuma led all scorers with 32 points on 11-for-22 shooting. He appeared to tie the game at 87 with five seconds left but it was ruled a two to make it 87-86. After two Creighton free throws, Asuma's last-second trey was off the mark.
In the first half, the Gophers had 11 turnovers, which Creighton turned into 10 points to help build a 44-31 halftime lead. Minnesota cleaned up the turnovers in the second half, but they had four over four minutes in the second OT to contribute to their undoing.
Minnesota finished with 20 turnovers in 50 minutes, compared to eight for Creighton.
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Minnesota shot 13 for 28 (48%) from the free throw line, including 1 for 8 from center Malick Kordel.
"We had several chances down the stretch," Medved said. "We couldn't make a free throw when we needed to, and just too many costly turnovers."
Minnesota started sluggishly, with three turnovers and four missed shouts as the Bluejays took an 11-0 lead. Medved called timeout and the U went on a 12-3 run to make it 14-12.
The Gophers won their first exhibition game, 72-52 over Omaha on Oct. 15. The U's regular season starts Nov. 2 vs. North Dakota at The Barn.
"We've got a little bit more than a week," Medved said. "We got exactly what we needed out of this. We learned a lot about ourselves."
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Creighton was picked to finish seventh in the 11-team Big East preseason poll. The Bluejays beat Iowa State, 83-80, in Ames in their first exhibition game on Oct. 18.
