Boone’s Hot Hand Leads Minnesota Past UMD

Tonight the effort was there, but so was some of the rust. But fortunately Adam Boone was deadly from the outside and J’son Stamper brought the second half energy and blue collar work ethic and in turn, the Gophers pulled away from the Bulldogs for a 78-64 win at The Barn.

The 14″”point win signifies the end of the exhibition season and provides plenty of things for Dan Monson and the coaching staff to work on before its regular season opener next Friday night versus North Dakota State. But more than anything, tonight Monson had his team playing with much more intensity and he tightened the rotation, giving Gopher fans a glimpse of what it will see throughout the year.

One of the aspects of tonight’s game that fans hope to see regularly was the hot shooting of Boone. The sixth-year senior was scorching hot from behind the arc as he finished with 30 points on 10/14 from the field including an astonishing 8/10 from three-point land. The best part is that it wasn’t just a hot stretch here or there, instead Boone was methodical all game long and was as lethal from outside in the first half as he was in the second half.

It was very important that Boone was hitting early as he turned a five-point UMD lead late in the first half to a 36-30 Gopher lead after 20 minutes of play. At one point Boone scored eight straight points as Minnesota finished the half on a 13-2 run.

Boone picked up right where he left off in the second half as he nailed a three-pointer, giving the Gophers a 45-35 lead and the team never looked back. Stamper started the second half in place of Dan Coleman and with it he brought his typical blue-collar high-energy game and finished with a game high eight points and eight rebounds, including five offensive.

While Boone and Stamper were providing the highlights, Vincent Grier and Maurice Hargrow methodically chipped their way to 17 and 13 points, respectively. Grier also added a couple of nice steals resulting in some transition points. The Grier/Hargrow combo showed a new concentration tonight to posting each of them up on the block. This could be a nice part of the offense as the season progresses ““ especially if Boone has the hot hand like he did tonight.

The Gophers pulled away in the second half and at one point opened up a 66-47 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. Spencer Tollackson got active in the second half and finished with eight points, including a nice put back basket.

Overall, the Gophers struggled at times to get into a rhythm both offensively and defensively, but the intensity was there, which is a big improvement over the first exhibition game. This team is still working to clearly define roles and create a team identity, but that is what the exhibition season is for.

But hopefully the intensity at practice picks up tomorrow as the regular season is just days away. The Gophers host North Dakota State Unviersity on Friday, November 18, and this time it counts fellas'”¦so expect some floor burns, plan on crashing the boards and get ready to play some defense ““ as this is GOLDEN GOPHER BASKETBALL!