The Gophers men's basketball team notched a second consecutive blowout Monday, but showed as much as anything the work it still has to do.
In the score, the 82-56 victory over Toledo, was persuasive.
But in reality, the Gophers turned in a mixed bag of results. They started very strong and did enough throughout to never be threatened. But a lukewarm second half exposed some lingering concerns.
"I think we lost a little bit of our focus there in the second half, but we finished the right way," coach Tubby Smith said.
They did, in that the Gophers (2-0) finished with a huge rebounding advantage (51-27), a decent night from behind the arc (35.7 percent) and three players in doublefigures, including solid all-around performances by Austin Hollins (13 points, five rebounds) and Rodney Williams (12 points, eight rebounds).
They showed enough of the energy and defensive pressure that they exhibited in Friday's season opener against American to pound the Rockets into an early deficit, and then cruised to a comfortable victory, despite a second half that lacked the same intensity.
But that wasn't the entire story.
After Hollins grabbed the reins once more and helped push the Gophers to a quick 12-0 lead, Minnesota piled on to lead 48-22 at halftime. Toledo -- which found some good looks but watched them rim out -- helped out plenty, posting a 6.7 percent shooting percentage nine minutes into play.
