Minnesota opens up Niko Medved era with blowout win 87-60 win over Gardner-Webb
The Niko Medved era at Minnesota began dominantly Monday night at Williams Arena, as the Golden Gophers steamrolled Gardner-Webb 87-60.
The opening minutes of the first half were all Minnesota, as the Gophers raced out to a 23-1 lead before the Runnin’ Bulldogs hit their first field goal. The Gophers shot 62.5% from the field in the first half, including 80% from within the arc. The Gophers used the nearly flawless first half to take a 53-20 lead into the break.
Gardner-Webb missed its first 10 shots and finished the half 6-of-26 from the floor. The Gophers did, however, send the Bulldogs to the free-throw line for 14 total attempts in the first half and 27 times in the game. Gardner-Webb, however, struggled to take advantage of those opportunities, making just 16-of-27 attempts, a 59% shooting percentage.
North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson, who was tremendous for the Gophers in their pair of exhibitions, had 17 points in the first half. The former two-time transfer, who also spent time with Belmont, made 8-of-12 attempts from the floor in the game as well as 10-of-12 free throw attempts.
Fellow transfers Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (Colorado State) and Langston Reynolds (Northern Colorado) were also impressive in their debuts. Crocker-Johnson recorded 13 points and 14 rebounds; Reynolds added 14 points and 9 boards, with 10 of 14 points and seven of nine rebounds coming in the second half.
The second half for Minnesota wouldn’t be as strong offensively, as the Gophers’ overall hot shooting hands cooled off. The Gophers shot 43.5% in the second half, making 10-of-23 attempts, including 3-of-9 from three-point range. Their struggles carried over to the charity stripe as well, missing six of 17 attempts.
Cade Tyson did remain hot in the second half, tacking on an additional 13 points, to finish with 30 points, one point short of tying his career high.
For the game, the Gophers finished with a 54.5% shooting percentage, including 33.3% from beyond the arc and 66.7% at the free-throw line. The Gophers outrebounded the Bulldogs 45-31 in the game while also recording nine steals and seven blocks.
Gardner-Webb notably did outscore Minnesota in the second half 40-34, while shooting 41.9% in the second half, a steep improvement from their first half performance. The Bulldogs made 6-of-12 attempts from three-point range in the second half.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Gophers had the opportunity to get the season off to a strong start on Monday against a poor opponent and did just that. While this Golden Gophers team is expected to be in the bottom tier of Big Ten programs this season, they’re still a team that should be able to take care of business against opponents like Gardner-Webb on Monday.
The Gophers in the first half showed all the hallmarks of a Niko Medved-coached team, including the ball movement that Medved loves to bake into his offense. The Gophers in the evening finished with 25 assists on 30 makes, a tremendous ratio. The offense did tail off a bit in the second half. It is worth noting. We’ll see if that continues to be a trend for the Gophers going forward.
The Gophers, now at 1-0 on the season, will be off until Saturday afternoon when they host the SWAC’s Alcorn State Braves at Williams Arena. Alcorn State will take on Florida State in its season opener on Tuesday before facing South Alabama on Thursday. Saturday’s matchup will be the third of four games in the first week of the season.
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