Gophers Get Much Needed Win as Coach Molinari Era Begins

It has been an emotional week for the Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball program. After suffering their fifth consecutive loss on Wednesday night to Clemson, Coach Dan Monson resigned and Jim Molinari was named the interim head coach. That is why a sigh of relief spread across The Barn on Saturday afternoon as Arizona State missed a three-pointer as time expired giving the Gophers a much needed 66-63 win.

The biggest difference with the coaching change was a shortened bench, and also the added playing time for Jonathan Williams. Williams rewarded Molinari with 16 hard minutes, six points, five rebounds and two blocks ““ one of which brought the Gopher crowd to its feet and sent the ball sailing down the corridor.

After leading by two points at halftime, the Gophers came out fired up and started the second half with all five players slapping their hands on the court as they waited in defensive stance ““ then proceeded to go on a 27-10 run and opened up a commanding 19 point lead with 7:19 to play.

But the Sun Devils wouldn’t back down as they had runs of seven straight points and 12 straight points and fought back in the game. But a few missed Arizona State free throws down the stretch and the missed three-pointer as time expired game the Gophers the much needed three point win.

Lawrence McKenzie led all scorers with 20 points, Dan Coleman added 15 and Spencer Tollackson chipped in with 10; Kevin Payton had a game high nine assists.

The win improved the Gophers to 3-5, but more importantly gave Molinari his first win as head coach of Minnesota, and gave the team a reason to smile.