Minnesota Survives Turnovers to Beat Fairfield
November 17, 2011

The Minnesota Gophers continued to beat but not dominate opponents, defeating the Fairfield Stags 67-57 despite turning the ball over 23 times. “In terms of handling the pressure, we had 23 turnovers, which is really disappointing for us,” said Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. “We were really disorganized. So that is the area of concern.”

Fairfield also had trouble protecting the ball, committing 12 turnovers in the first half and 20 in the game. “We had a pretty good effort, but it is hard to win games with the turnovers we had,” Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said. “[Minnesota] executed well so it was just too hard to win tonight.”

Trevor Mbakwe led all players with 20 points, 16 of them coming on free throws as he made all but 2 of his shots from the line. Mbakwe helped the Gophers make 87.1 percent of their free throws, a skill that had been lacking in previous games. “That’s a real plus because now guys are confident,” said Smith. “Trevor is physical, and he is going to get fouled. So we need to give him the ball and he can go get it. Having a big man who can make free throws, that is a big plus.”

Mbawke has been shooting well from the line all season. “That was first thing I did this offseason. I missed too many free throws last year,” he said. “I know teams are going to foul me the way I play, and I need to make them pay for those fouls from the line.”

As was the case in their two exhibition wins and first two non-conference games, Minnesota let the opposition hang close for much of the game before finally pulling away. The Stags led by as many as 3 points in the first half, before going into the locker room trailing 29-24. Fairfield pulled as close as 31-29 in the second half, but it wasn’t until 32 seconds left in the game that Minnesota extended its lead to double digits, as Andre Hollins made two free throws for the final score of 67-57.

After being held to 2 rebounds in the first half, Mbawke had 8 in the second half, when he scored 14 of his 20 points, to give him a double-double in each of the three non-conference games.

Minnesota shot better in the second half, finishing with a .463 field-goal percentage after making only 10 of 25 (40 percent) in the first half; The Stags were also 10 of 25 from the field in the first half, including only 1 of 10 three-pointers, and finished the game by making 41.7 percent of their shots. The Gophers were 0-for-3 on three-pointers in the first half and finished at 2-for-8, with both shots beyond the arc coming from Oto Osenieks.

“It was a sloppy game,” said Smith, “but it just shows the things we still have to work on. We got the win, and that’s always good, but we’re going to come back to practice on Saturday and work on those things. We just have to take care of the ball better.”

Gopher Holes: The Stags and Gophers met for the first time. They could meet again soon in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida, in late November. If they play again, it would be in the championship game.