EASTERN KENTUCKY TOOK ON THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MENS' BASKETBALL NONCONCONFERENCE GAME

Eastern Kentucky University Colonels traveled to the University of Minnesota to take on the Gophers in a nonconference basketball game. Eastern Kentucky came into the game with a record of 5-4. Minnesota came in with a record of 8-1. Minnesota was ranked number 20 in the country according to the USA Today, coach’s poll. They were ranked number 22 in the Associated Press poll.

The Gophers won the tip. They started in a motion offense. They looked to get a lot of movement of the ball on the offensive end.  

The Gophers played a matchup zone defense.  

Eastern Kentucky was not afraid to shoot the ball from anywhere on the court. 

Devoe Joseph started the game for the Gophers. He did a good job of setting up the Gophers on the offensive end. Devoe knew where his teammates were supposed to be on the court at all times and was shouting directions to his teammates. 

With 15:22 left to go in the first half the score was Minnesota 8 and Eastern Kentucky 5.

At the first media timeout the University of Minnesota’s new football head coach Jerry Kill was introduced to the crowd. 

The Gophers continued to shoot the ball. They looked to get the ball into Trevor Mbakwe’s hands. They also looked for Blake Hoffarber for the long three point shot.

Eastern Kentucky did a good job of applying pressure to the Gophers. They were very aggressive on the defensive end.

With 11:51 left to go in the first half the score was Eastern Kentucky 13 and Minnesota 10.

Eastern Kentucky did a good job of job of taking a lot of time off the clock. They made good passes to each other and where able to make a lot of cuts and looked to get their shots off with under 10 seconds left to go on the 35 second shot clock. 

The Gophers continued to push the ball down the court. They looked to get into their offense starting at center court.

Eastern Kentucky went on a run with 8:00 left to go in the first half. The Gophers went through a period where they could not score.

With 7:43 left to go in the first half the score was Eastern Kentucky 17 and Minnesota 12.

The Gophers didn’t back down. After the timeout they went on a run of their own. They were able to string some points together and make a run at Eastern Kentucky.

 

With 3:54 left to go in the first half the score was Eastern Kentucky 22 and Minnesota 20.

Minnesota’s Maverick Ahanmisi drained a three point shot at the buzzer which was good after a review.

At halftime the score was Minnesota 28 and Eastern Kentucky 25.

As the second half got underway both teams came out on fire. The Gophers continued to shoot the ball well. They continued to look inside out.

Ralph Sampson came to life in the second half. He found his shot and seemed to be very confident in shooting it.

With 11:44 left to go in regulation the score was Minnesota 39 and Eastern Kentucky 25. 

The defense that both teams played in the game was right on. Neither team was able to shoot the ball well throughout the game.  That led to a low scoring affair for both teams.

Chip Armelin came through in the second half as he stepped up and made some big plays in the second half for the Gophers.  

The Gophers were able to pull away midway through the second half. The first half was a little sloppy by both teams. The Gophers were able to play a little better in the second half. 

With 3:55 left to go in regulation the score was Minnesota 61 and Eastern Kentucky 46.

The Gophers were able to come away with the 71-58 victory over Eastern Kentucky.

The leading scorer for Eastern Kentucky was Justin Stommes with 19 points. The leading scorers for Minnesota were Ralph Sampson with 19 points and Blake Hoffarber and Trevor Mbakwe with 14 each. 

Tubby Smith addressed the media after the game to talk about the victory.  Also Gopher players Ralph Sampson and Blake Hoffarber addressed the media to talk about the game.