Notes from tonight's 71-55 win over South Dakota State University:
- Trevor Mbakwe had his right wrist iced after the game and played with a wrap on it during the first half of the game. He said he sprained the hand and thumb yesterday during practice. In the first half, he had just four points and four rebounds, but in the second half, he discarded the wrap, played on "adrenaline," he said, and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, good for his fourth double-double of the season. Coach Tubby Smith said Mbakwe "got hit pretty hard" but the team doesn't seem to think the damage is more than just a bruise.
- The second unit played by far its best game of the young season.
o Chip Armelin scored nine first-half points and was key in keeping the Gophers close early. He finished with nine points, three assists, two turnovers, a block and two steals. o After Andre Hollins was benched with three fouls in the first half, Maverick Ahanmisi was key in stepping in and keeping the momentum. He was hot after the half, scoring eight points, including a three-pointer. o Oto Osenieks had some good touches and his best game of the season so far. He hit a key three- pointer in the second half to stretch a two-point lead. o Andre Ingram and Joe Coleman were solid defensively and helped increase the team's intensity and physicality late.
- The Gophers hit six three-pointers – a team high to this point, and shot a much-improved 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Gophers struggled with free-throw shooting in the first half, making just three of eight shots and making just 52.4 percent from the line overall.
- The team did not have its first offensive rebound until Rodney Williams got one in the second half, and the Gophers finished with six overall. "They were just crashing everywhere, on everybody," Mbakwe said. "We weren't getting the long rebounds and their guards were staking in and their bigs and we just didn't do a good job of boxing out in the first half. Coach really challenged us at halftime, because we really pride ourselves on rebounding and there's no way we should have gotten out-rebounded like that in the first half – in the game – like we did by any team, we feel.
- SDSU point guard pretty much "schooled" the Gophers, Smith said, especially Andre Hollins, who couldn't keep up with Nate Wolters' tricks. "Nobody could really guard him there for a while," Smith said. "They were taking us off the dribble."
