Seattle University faced one of its toughest non-conference games of the season, as the University of Minnesota jumped out on top and maintained its momentum throughout the night for a 92-57 victory over the Redhawks Friday night in a men’s collegiate basketball game at Williams Arena.
Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) led the Redhawks with a season-high 14 points, plus he dished out three assists, while Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists. In the paint, William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) worked hard for seven points and a team-high six rebounds, and Theo Turner (Middlesbrough, England) also scored seven points as he played a season-high 25 minutes.
Minnesota (9-2) was able to take the early lead thanks to its full court press and aggressiveness in driving to the basket, scoring 10 unanswered points, six of them on free throws and punctuated by a dunk by Joey King, to take a 12-2 lead three-and-a-half minutes into the game. A three-pointer by Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) and a basket by Powell cut the Redhawk deficit to five, but the Gophers used a 16-0 run, led by Carlos Morris with 10 points during that stretch, to pull out to a 38-15 advantage with less than four minutes to go before halftime.
The Gophers extended their lead to 48-21 early in the second half on a jumper by Maurice Walker and a three-pointer from Morris, but the Redhawks battled back thanks to a 10-3 scoring run, featuring five straight points by Umipig. Minnesota responded with a 11-1 run of its own, punctuated by a traditional three-point play by Nate Mason, to increase its lead to 68-38 eight minutes into the second half.
After Umipig hit a three-pointer, the Gophers scored seven unanswered points, as Elliott Eliason made two layups bookending a three-pointer by Andre Hollins. Mason would score the final five points of the game as Minnesota shot 55 percent from the field (33-of-60), including 9-of-25 from behind the three-point line, and 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the free throw line.
Morris led the Gophers with 19 points, while Hollins, Walker, and Mason finished with 15 points apiece. Minnesota controlled every statistic, outrebounding Seattle U 36-30, earning 25 points off 21 Redhawk turnovers, and scoring 19 points on the fast break while not allowing any transition points from the visitors.
“They are a good team and pretty balanced. However, we took ourselves out of the game early by committing those turnovers,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “We need to continue to be strong with the ball, which we did better in the second half.”
Seattle University (5-6) heads home to prepare for a non-conference matchup against Sacramento State Sunday, Dec. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. at KeyArena. The game will be streamed live online on the WAC Digital Network, and Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the contest from courtside on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.