Gopher Basketball
Hoffarber became the 36th Gopher to reach the milestone and the first since Lawrence Westbrook did so last season. Trevor Mbakwe recorded his Big Ten leading seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 points, while Rodney Williams added 12 points and a career high 10 rebounds. The performance was his first career double-double. Devoe Joseph also added 11 points in the win.
Minnesota was plagued by poor shooting and fell behind early. Akron (4-4) led 19-13 after nearly 12 minutes of play and held the scoring advantage most of the half.
Akron led 32-27 at halftime, capitalizing on the Gopher’s inability to finish at the rim and poor overall shooting effort. Minnesota went just 10-36 (28%) from the field in the first half. The Zips nearly doubled that effort, shooting (48%) in the span. Hoffarber led all first half scorers with nine points.
The Gophers opened the second half on a 22-8 run, taking a 49-40 lead with 8:58 to play behind a three point play by Ralph Sampson and a monster dunk by Rodney Williams. The Zips would close the gap to six later in the half but never came any closer. The Gophers reversed their shooting woes in the second half, going 15-24 (63%) from the field. Free shooting, however, still remains a concern, as the team shot just 47 percent (7-15) from the line.
Steve McNees lead Akron with 12 points and Nikola Cvetinovic had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Minnesota will play its next game on Thurs. Dec 23 at 7 p.m. against South Dakota State.