New-look Gophers use late run to beat Chicago State

The Gophers men’s basketball team pulled away in the final eight minutes to outlast Chicago State 66-54 on Tuesday night at Williams Arena.

Cade Tyson scored 22 points, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson added 15 and Isaac Asuma contributed 14 for the Gophers, who improved to 4-1 on the season.

The Gophers, who led by 14 points in the first half and by 11 early in the second half, outscored the Cougars 21-7 down the stretch to rally for the victory.

“It was a tough, hard-fought win,” Gophers coach Niko Medved, who is in his first season leading the team, said in a news conference after the game. “We’re struggling on offense right now. In the second half, we came out and it was a fight. We made a lot of plays down the stretch when we needed. Chansey [Willis Jr.] made some great defensive plays, and we scored on our last five possessions. And tonight, we knocked down our free throws, and we needed to.”

BOXSCORE: Gophers 66, Chicago State 54

The Cougars, who trailed by seven at halftime, used a 20-7 run to take a 47-45 lead with 7:51 remaining. Willis had three of his game-high six steals in a four-minute span to spark the Gophers’ comeback.

After making a steal and getting fouled, Willis sank a free throw to pull the Gophers to within 47-46. Willis missed the second free throw, but Crocker-Johnson’s rebound and layup gave the Gophers a 48-47 lead with 6:38 left.

Tyson, who went into the game 12th in the nation with a 23.8 points-per-game average, scored 12 points in the first half as the Gophers opened a 31-24 lead. The Gophers led by 13 points with eight minutes to go in the first half but scored just six points in the final eight minutes.

With the Gophers leading 27-14, the Cougars used a 10-2 run, which included eight points from Marcus Tankersley, to pull to within 29-24. Two free throws by the Gophers’ Robert Vaihola were the only points of the final 3:42 of the first half.

The Gophers, who made just 20 of 39 free-throw tries in their 72-65 overtime victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday, went 9-for-11 on free throws in the first half to overcome 30% shooting (9-for-30) from the field. The Gophers shot just 20% (4-for-20) from three-point range in the first half.

For the game, the Gophers shot 36.5% (19-for-52) from the field and just 25% (7-for-28) from three-point range.

Tankersley scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (0-5).