The Golden Gophers improved to 4-0 after dropping the Southern Jaguars by 30 points on Thursday night. The 91-61 win was fueled by Isaac Asuma’s career high of 23 points and the team combining to shoot 48% from three.
Games agaisnt opponents that are likely in the bottom-third of D1 basketball are not games where the home team should sweat, and last night was never in doubt. Asuma led all scorers, but Minnesota finished with five guys in double-figures.
WHY IT MATTERED: This game and Monday’s game against
Western Michigan are not special games, just games that have to be wins. What matters most is probably that this game was never in doubt, with Minnesota leading by 20 at the half and winning the second half by 10 to finish with a 30—point win.
GAME BALL: Obviously, Asuam’s 23 points, five rebound and six assist night is an excellent night. But I’m going with Nolan Groves for tonight’s gameball. The sophomore guard played 19 minutes last night but he managed to be +25 in +/-. Groves was 2/3 from behind the arc and finished with three assists and three rebounds.
THE STAT: Rebounding was thoroughly dominated by Minnesota on both ends of the floor. Defensively, Minnesota secured 88% of their defensive rebounds while on offense they found a way to recoup 39% of their own misses. Both are impressive numbers.
NOTABLE: This should probably be highlighted much earlier in this recap, but Jalen Crocker-Johnson scored his 1,000th point last night.
UP NEXT: Western Illinois Leathernecks will come to the Barn for the team’s last tune-up before six consecutive games against P4 opponents.
