Gophers Win Soft Opener
November 6, 2018

Led by a foursome of Minnesota kids, a Texan, and a Queens native, the Golden Gophers embarked on the 2018-19 season with the traditional thumping of a victim of a non-power conference when they overcame the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) at Williams Arena in front of an announced crowd of 8,883.

Amir Coffey of Hopkins High School led the way with 18 points, followed by New Yorker DuPree McBrayer with 17, freshman Daniel Orturo with 14, and power forward Jordan Murphy with 14. The latter picked up where he left off last season with 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Minnesota has won every opener in impressive style since 2015 with wins over lowly Missouri-Kansas City, Louisiana-Lafayette, and South Carolina-Upstate, but Tuesday’s 104-76 bashing of UNO was something special.

Most impressive was the play of freshmen Minnesotans Orturo, Gabe Kalscheur, and Jarvis Omersa of Cretin-Durham Hall, DeLaSalle, and Orono high schools, respectively.

“All three of those freshmen are going to be terrific,” gushed coach Richard Pitino after the game. “People are going to love them for a long time. I’m excited.

“Our young guys are clearly very talented. It’s only a matter of playing with substance.”

After falling behind at 22-20, the Gophers roared back on baskets by Matz Stockman, Coffey, McBrayer, Kalscheur, and Oturo to build a 13-point lead and, eventually, a 50-31 halftime advantage.

Zach Jackson was pretty much a one-man show for the Mavericks in the first half with 16 points. He finished with 21.

The second half saw the Gophers build a 24-point lead and coast from there,

Next up is Utah of the Pac-12 Conference, a considerably more formidable foe. “We scheduled that one with our fans in mind,” commented Pitino.