The Gophers traveled to North Carolina to participate in the inaugural Asheville Championship over the weekend. Minnesota defeated Western Kentucky in the opening round 73-69, and held on in double overtime over Princeton 87-80 Sunday night for the championship win.
Minnesota opened the weekend up Friday night against Western Kentucky. The Gophers were firing on all cylinders in the first half to give themselves a 12-point lead heading into the half. They used the early start to their advantage and never trailed.
Sophomore Jamison Battle led the Gophers once again in scoring with a season-high 20 points. He also grabbed six boards to go along with two assists and one steal. Minnesota had three other double-digit scorers in seniors Payton Willis and Eylijah Stephens and redshirt senior Eric Curry.
Willis was second on the team with 19 points, as he also had six boards, to go along with an assist and two steals. Stephens had 18, and also had two steals as he grabbed five rebounds. Curry had 11 points and led the team with seven rebounds.
The Gophers ran into some trouble in the second half as they allowed Western Kentucky to shoot 50% from the field and close the gap. The Gophers were outscored 46-38 in the second half and saw a 14-point lead disappear in four minutes.
The Gophers were able to hold on and advanced to the championship with a 73-69 win.
Championship
Minnesota found itself in a double-overtime battle against Princeton, largely due to their problem at the free throw line. The Gophers again got off to a hot start and had an eight-point lead heading into the half. Down the stretch, the Gophers were unable to put the game away as their struggles at the line continued.
As a team, the Gophers shot 15-29 at the charity stripe, with Willis being the lone-Gopher to shoot above 50%. Willis scored a career-high 29 points in the win and came up big in both overtimes. Willis also had his first double-double of the season with 10 boards.
Battle also had his first double-double in the Maroon & Gold with 24 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds. Battle and Willis both came up big for Minnesota and accounted for almost 61% of the team’s points.
The game shouldn’t have gone into overtime, let alone two overtimes, but came out on the right side. Senior Sean Sutherlin gave the Gophers an important 14 points off the bench in his 20 minutes of play.
Minnesota is back in action at The Barn Friday night when they host Purdue Fort Wayne and look to stay undefeated.
