Gophers, Coleman Easily Hop Over Jackrabbits 77-53

Finally the Gophers had a “œfeet up” game: A game in which the outcome was never in doubt; a game in which the bench was emptied and each Gopher got some decent playing time; and a game in which everyone in maroon and gold left The Barn smiling as Minnesota cruised to a dominating 77-53 win over the Jackrabbits to improve to 4-6.

After a sluggish start in the games first 10 minutes as South Dakota State opened up a quick 21-16 lead after a barrage of early three-pointers, Dan Coleman and Lawrence McKenzie caught fire, and the team never looked back.

Coleman and McKenzie led the Gophers on a dominating 29-7 run to open up a commanding 45-28 halftime lead, on the heels of Coleman’s 20 first half points.

The Coleman-McKenzie combo picked up where it left off in the second half and added a some inside scoring from Spencer Tollackson and a couple of punishing three-pointers by Jamal Abu Shamala and Damian Johnson as Minnesota opened up a 33 point lead midway through the second half.

The Gophers cruised in the games last 10 minutes to capture the 24 point win, and in turn, gave a number of players the opportunity to get some valuable playing time, which has been scarce the last few games. But the bench didn’t empty until Coleman capped off a career high 28 points, five assists and six rebounds in 28 minutes, McKenzie had 15 points five assists, and Tollackson added nine points and six rebounds. Johnson came off the bench and added five points, four blocks and three rebounds in 21 minutes and Bryce Webster had a career-high six points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

There is little time to celebrate as the Gophers get right back at it on Saturday when they play host to Arkansas-Little Rock at noon.