Gophers Roll, 114-47, In Exhibition Opener

The Minnesota Gopher basketball team put their off-the-court concerns behind them as they rolled to a 114-47 win over Minnesota-Duluth. The Gophers led 50-13 at halftime as they scored the final 21 points of the first half and expanded the margin to 75-28. All 11 Gophers scored as they overwhelmed the Division II opponent.

The Gopher defense was the story during the first half 21-0 run and they forced the Bulldogs into 28 turnovers (21 in the fist half) with 19 steals for the game. Minnesota held a 43-26 rebounding edge over the Bulldogs and blocked 14 shots in the game.

Minnesota made 44 of 73 shots (60.3%) from the field and held the Bulldogs to just 18 of 56 (32.1%), including a five of 19 (26.3%) in the first half.

Lawrence Westbrook led the Gophers with 19 points. Fellow senior Damian Johnson was a stat sheet stuffer with 16 points, a game-high ten rebounds, seven steals, four assists and three blocked shots. Devoe Joseph had 18 points and sophomore big men Ralph Sampson III added 13 points and a game-high six blocks, and Colton Iverson added twelve points. Freshman Rodney Williams had eleven points, as he made his first four field goals.

The Golden Gophers face Minnesota State Moorhead Monday for the final exhibition game and Tennessee Tech in the regular season opener next Friday.