The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team concluded their nonconference portion of the schedule by taking on South Dakota State University. Minnesota came into the game with an 8-3 record overall. South Dakota State came in with a 5-7 record overall and 1-1 in their conference.
The Gophers won the tip to start off the game. SDSU started the game in a man-to-man defense. The Gophers looked to press from the beginning of the game. They wanted to disrupt SDSU on their defensive end.
It took awhile for each of these teams to feel each other out. Both teams wanted to take their time in the offense and they wanted to look for shots that they could make.
SDSU got out to an early 8-5 lead with 15:59 in the first half.
Rodney Williams entered the game with 15:09 left in the first half for Minnesota. Rodney didn’t play in the Gophers last game against Northern Illinois because of a sore foot.
Both teams came out strong against each other. Both teams were making shots in the first half. Through the first ten minutes of the game neither team was able to go on a run.
For SDSU, Nate Wolters who is from St Cloud Minnesota was able to come in and knock down some nice shots. He was not afraid to put a little pressure on the Gophers. His defense kind of bothered the Gophers.
Devoe Joseph was able to come in and knock down a few three-point shots for the Gophers. The Gophers feed off the energy that he brings to the court. Whether he is knocking down shots or playing stellar defense his teammates feed off of his play.
The Gophers put on a full court press with 9:30 left in the first half. They wanted to look for the steal in the backcourt. SDSU was able to handle the Gophers pressure. They didn’t get flustered.
The Gophers got on a roll with about 6:00 left to go in the first half. Blake Hoffarber was able to knock down a couple of three-point shots. That stared the Gophers run and SDSU had a hard time finding the basket.
With 3:39 left in regulation the score was Minnesota 44 and SDSU 29.
The Gophers continued to look inside for baskets. Paul Carter or Ralph Sampson would be on the low block and they would look for their shots from there.
At half time the score was Minnesota 51 and South Dakota State University 31.
At halftime the scoring was really balanced for the Gophers. Devoe Joseph had 9 points, Al Nolen had 8 points and Lawrence Westbrook had 7 points. For South Dakota State University they were led in scoring at the half by Garret Callahan with 13 points. Minnesota shot 62.9% from the field in the first half. South Dakota State University shot 39.3 % from the field.
As the second half got underway the Gophers really came out fired up. They wanted to come out and really put it to SDSU.
The Gophers were able to get a 20 point lead with 14:00 left in the second half.
Devoe Joseph played with a lot of energy. He was able to knock down some big shots for Minnesota in the second half.
With 11:28 left in the second half, Minnesota’s Paul Carter went down and twisted his ankle. He was helped off the floor by the team’s trainer.
On the next dead ball with 9:43 in left in the second half Paul Carter reentered the game. His ankle seemed to be fine.
The Gophers lead by 20, 78-58, with 6:56 left in the game.
Devron Bostic came into the game with 5:00 minutes left and he was able to knock down a big shot for the Gophers.
I really thought that the Gophers played well in the game. They were playing hard and really getting after it on both ends of the court.
The Gophers were able to come away with the 92-62 victory over South Dakota State University.
The leading scorers for Minnesota were Blake Hoffarber with 16 points, Lawrence Westbrook with 12 points and Devoe Joseph with 11 points. The leading scorers for SDSU were Garrett Callahan with 25 points and Nate Wolters with 14 points.
After the game Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith addressed the media. Gophers’ players Blake Hoffarber and Lawrence Westbrook also addressed the media to talk about the game.
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