THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM HOSTED WINONA STATE IN AN EXHIBITION GAME

Coming off of their first exhibition basketball game against Northeastern State University the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team hosted Winona State in their final exhibition game before they start the nonconference portion of the basketball season.


Winona State hopped out to a quick 5-0 lead. The Gophers started the game in a man-to-man defense. The Gophers looked out of sync on the defensive end because they were not able to slow down Winona State players. Winona State was able to do whatever they wanted on the offensive end.


The Gophers had trouble from the beginning of the game finding their shot. They put up some quick shots that didn’t go in. They were not able to work the shot clock down. I thought that the Gophers forced shots.


The Gophers settled down and they got into the flow of the game. Al King Nolen Jr. had trouble in the getting the Gophers into their offense. Winona State did a good job of guarding the Gophers.


With 15:49 left in the first half the score was Minnesota 6 and Winona State 5.


Winona State looked to get the ball out of the basket and they looked to push in transition. They were able to get layups in transition.


The Gophers looked to get the ball inside to Trevor Mbake who was camped on the low block. When Trevor got the ball on the low block he was able to turn around and score shots.


The Gophers also looked to Maurice Walker who with Trevor was camped out on the other low block.


Maverick Ahanmisi pushed the ball up the court in transition. He picked up his second personal foul with just over 13:00 left to go in the first half. He was replaced by Al Nolen Jr.


Winona State kept up with the Gophers scoring baskets. They spread the ball around on the offensive end. Everyone on the Winona State team touched the ball and had a chance to score baskets.


With 11:42 left in the first half the score was Minnesota 12 and Winona State 5.


The Gophers looked to trap the ball in the corners after the time out. They also stepped up their half court pressure. Winona State was able to get into their offense. They made their shots. Winona State looked to get their shots from inside the pant.


The Gophers went into a zone defense to switch things up midway through the first half. In the zone defense Winona State had to extend their offense out to the three point line.


With 7:48 left in the first half the score was Minnesota 19 and Winona State 16.


Al Nolen forced shots in the first half. He thought that his teammates were open but they were not. That created turnovers.


The scoring for the Gophers was balanced in the first half. They did a good job of getting everyone the ball when they were open.


With 3:52 left to go in the first half the score was Minnesota 27 and Winona State 21.


Winona State’s C.J Erickson knocked down two three-point shots back to back. That kept Winona State in the game. They looked to get the ball in his hands in the first half. He had a green light to shoot the ball


With 2:06 left to go in the first half Trevor Mbakwe received a technical foul for hanging on the rim on a nice two handed slam dunk.


In a fast paced first half, the halftime the score was Minnesota 37 and Winona State 32.


As the second half got underway Winona State started in a half court man-to-man defense. The Gophers were forced to shoot a bad shot as the shot clock expired.


The Gophers looked flat coming out of the halftime break. They didn’t seem to have a lot of energy as they did in the first half.


With 15:27 left to go in the second half the score was Minnesota 43 and Winona State 37.


Maurice Walker for the Gophers had success with a little turnaround jumper in the second half. His teammates were able to get him the ball on the low block and he was able to use the jumper to his advantage.


With 11:48 left to go in regulation the score was Minnesota 55 and Winona State 40.


Chip Armelin played hard throughout the game. He stepped up and was able to knock down some big shots for the Gophers.


Winona State went on a run with 9:00 minutes left in the game. They had a 10 point deficit at 48-58.


With 7:47 left to go in regulation the score was Minnesota 60 and Winona State 51.


Winona State continued to look for their shots late in the contest. They had trouble making shots for a period in the second half. The Gophers on the other hand continued to make their shots.


Winona State looked to chip away at their deficit.


With 2:30 left to go in the game the final media time out the score was Minnesota 69 and Winona State 61.


Minnesota had a 73-68 lead with 58.1 seconds left to go. Winona State went on a run to end the game.


In a hard fought game the University of Minnesota Gophers came away with the 78-72 victory over Winona State.


The leading scorers for Minnesota were Rodney Williams with 12 points, Maurice Walker with 11 points and Al Nolen with 10 points. The leading scorers for Winona State were Anthony Tucker with 24 points, Jon Walburg with 22 points and CJ Erickson with 14 points.


After the game Gopher head coach Tubby Smith and Gopher player’s Al Nolen and Rodney Williams addressed the media to talk about the game. Winona State’s head coach Mike Leaf and players Anthony Tucker and Jon Walburg talked about the game.