Mens College Basketball: Gophers run past MSU-Moorhead 98-49

The Minnesota men's basketball team wrapped up its exhibition schedule Monday night at Williams Arena with a 98-49 win against Minnesota State, Moorhead before a crowd of 11,439.

The Golden Gophers, who defeated Minnesota Duluth, 114-47, in their exhibition opener last Thursday, jumped out to a 25-2 lead a little more than 10 minutes into the game, then never looked back against their NCAA Division II foe. A total of five Minnesota players reached double figures, led by sophomore guard Devoe Joseph's game-high 20 points off the bench.

Minnesota's largest lead was the 49-point final margin, and the Gophers connected on 36-of-63 (.571) field goals in the win. Minnesota also shot the ball particularly well from outside the arc, as it made 14-of-23 (.609) attempts from that range. The Gophers used their size to outrebound the Dragons, 45-27, while the team's athleticism was evident by recording 14 steals, 13 blocks, and forcing 24 turnovers.

MSU Moorhead was paced by guard Jake Driscoll's 14 points, while Jordan May added eight points off the bench. The Dragons were limited to 19-of-55 (.345) field goals, including just 7-of-21 (.333) three-pointers in the loss.

Lawrence Westbrook (16 points), Blake Hoffarber (14), Ralph Sampson III (11), and
Damian Johnson (10) joined Joseph in double figures for the Gophers. Hoffarber was 4-of-5 from three-point range, while Westbrook scored 11 points in the opening four minutes of the second half. Joseph made 5-of-8 treys in the game, while Westbrook
was 4-of-7 from beyond the stripe. Three Gophers -- Sampson, Carter, and Johnson --
finished with six rebounds apiece tgo pace the team.

The Gophers throttled the Dragons in building the early lead, and led by 26 points (35-9) following a layup by Paul Carter with 5:27 left until the half. The Gophers made 20-of-30 (.667) field goals in the opening 20 minutes, including a red-hot 10-of-14 (.714) from long-range.

Minnesota will now look ahead to its regular season-opener against Tennessee Tech
this Friday (Nov. 13). The game is set to tip off from The Barn at 7 p.m., and will be streamed live on www.bigtennetwork.com. Fans can also listen to the game on the Gopher Radio Network, and flagship station WCCO 830 AM, with Mike Grimm calling the play-by-play and Spencer Tollackson making his debut as the network's analyst.

Courtesy: University of Minnesota