Blake Hoffarber led three Golden Gophers in double-figures with 18 points to lead Minnesota to a 94-64 win over Morgan State Tuesday night in Williams Arena.
Hoffarber made 8-of-11 shots to lead the Gophers to a 50 percent (28-of-56) shooting night.
Reggie Holmes led MSU with a game-high 26 points, but struggled against a Gopher defense that was zeroed in on stopping the No. 4 scorer in the nation (24.6 ppg).
Holmes started the ballgame by shooting 1-for-10, and finished by making 9-of- a career-high 27 shot attempts. Kevin Thompson posted 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Troy Smith added eight points and three steals.
The Bears shot 25 percent (8-31) and had nine turnovers in the first half.
“I thought that we were a little impatient; I don't know if it was jitters with some of the guys sometimes it happens like that,” said MSU head coach Todd Bozeman. “We didn't get any good shots to start the game and started in a hole and it was tough to get out of that.”
Minnesota (6-3) took control of the game in the first half thanks to their depth and balance. The Gophers shot a blistering 53 percent (16-of-30) before the break, including 5-of-1- 3-pointers en route to a 43-21 halftime lead.
The Gophers' Lawrence Westbrook scored 14 points, Damien Johnson pitched in 11 points and Al Nolen dished out a game-high six assists. Everyone on the Minnesota's roster scored.
MSU (5-4) had their hands full early on in the contest and was more than a little bit out of sync as a Hoffarber 3-pointer gave the Gophers a 18-0 advantage within the first five minutes of the ballgame.
MSU scored its first basket of the ball game when Rodney Stokes converted a putback at 12:25.
“There have been a lot of times where we have played through the situation like that in the first half; we just could not get it going,” Bozeman explained. “The only positives I can see is Kevin (Thompson) for him to have 19 rebounds in a game with his effort you hate for it to come in this type of loss. Tubby (Smith) always has his team prepared defensively.”
The Bears committed 33 fouls and sent the Gophers to the free line where they shot 33-for-46 (71.7 percent) from the stripe, while MSU shot 73.1 percent (16-26).
Next up for Morgan State will be a home matchup against the Manhattan Jaspers on Saturday in Baltimore. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Hill Field House.
BEAR NOTES
MSU arrived to the arena 45 minutes before tip as a result of poor weather conditions and traffic. The Bears missed their first nine shots of the ballgame.
