Coastal Carolina Hangs in but Loses to Gophers
November 19, 2013

The Minnesota Gophers finally pulled away in the final 10 minutes to beat a tenacious Coastal Carolina team 82-72.

Turnovers and fouls caused problems for the Chanticleers, who outshot the Gophers 52 to 44 percent from the field. Coastal Carolina also made 9 of 20 three-pointers to Minnesota’s 8 of 28. However, the Gophers got off more shots from the field, the result of turnovers in the first half, and made it to the line13 more times than the Chanticleers in the second half.

Turnovers have been a problem for Coastal Carolina in its first three games of the season. In the first half against the Gophers, the Chanticleers had 11 turnovers. Two came when they couldn’t inbound the ball within five seconds, another came when Eric Smith slipped and lost the ball, which speedy Minnesota guard DeAndrew Mathieu turned into a basket, and several came on passes that sailed well away from an intended receiver. The Chanticleers had another time violation in the second half when they couldn’t get into the front court within 10 seconds.

Some of the Coastal Carolina mistakes were caused by Minnesota pressure, but many were unforced errors that allowed the Gophers extra opportunities at the basket. Minnesota had more second-chance attempts with strong offensive rebounding. The teams each had 33 rebounds for the game, but Minnesota had a 10-4 edge on the offensive boards (not counting team rebounds).

When they had the chance to shoot, the Chanticleers did well, especially in dealing with the 2-3 zone. Freshman guard Elijah Wilson had 15 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, connecting on 3 of his 4 long-range shots. Junior guard Warren Gillis was held to 7 points, in part because he was limited to 17 minutes on the floor after picking up two fouls early in the game and getting two more quick ones at the start of the second half.

“We got the win and that’s obviously the most important thing,” said Gophers coach Richard Pitino. “I was really concerned with a letdown, not physically but mentally. We have to do a better job of scrambling out defensively out of the press.”

The Minnesota backcourt trio of Mathieu, Austin Hollins, and Andre Hollins were the leading scorers for the Gophers with 17, 15, and 19, respectively. Oto Osenieks as the other player in double figures for the Gophers, scoring 13, and center Elliott Eliason had 11 rebounds, 8 points, 2 blocked shots, and 2 steals. Mathieu had six assists and the Hollinses two each. Mathieu and Andre Hollins each had three steals.

Malik Sealy hit pair of three-pointers for the Gophers in the first half, but, other than that, the Minnesota bench was quiet. Joey King came out of the game midway through the second half with a jaw contusion after a collision with Andre Hollins.

For Coastal Carolina, 6-10 center El Hadji Ndieguene had 10 points and 7 rebounds, and reserve Colton Ray-St. Cyr had 15 points with 6 assists.

The Chanticleers only lead was 4-3 and erased quickly when Andre Hollins popped a three-pointer. The Gophers held the lead the rest of the way although Coastal Carolina came within a point late in the first half and within two points eight minutes into the second half.

As often happens, the Gophers wore down the Chanticleers over the second half of the second half, but it took a while for them to take control and put away an inferior team.

The Gophers next play Wofford at home and then head for Hawaii and open the Maui Invitational against Syracuse.

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