UNCG-Minnesota Box Score
Box Score
MINNEAPOLIS – A season-high 26 turnovers by UNC Greensboro, coupled by hot shooting by Minnesota led to a wire-to-wire 94-59 Gopher win in non-conference men's basketball action at Williams Arena on Wednesday night.
Vincent Grier, who entered the night second in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.6 ppg, led Minnesota with 25 points in 24 minutes of action. The Gophers, who shot 58.6 percent (34-58) from the field for the game, won their sixth-straight in raising their record to 8-3 on the season.
Ronnie Burrell, a senior from Montclair, NJ, led UNCG (7-4) with 18 points, his ninth double-digit scoring performance of the season and fifth in a row. Kyle Hines, a freshman from Sicklerville, NJ, added 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks, also his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season. Ricky Hickman also chipped in 15 points, his eighth-straight double-digit scoring game and 10th in 11 games this season.
“I was impressed with Minnesota when we saw them on tape,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “They have a good mix of speed and size. Coming into the game, I knew we had to take care of the basketball and not get beat badly on the glass. We didn't do either of those things tonight.
“I think Minnesota is underrated,” said McCaffery. “If”it wasn't for their one-point loss to Florida State, I think they would belong in the Top 25.”
UNCG got off to a rough start against the host Gophers. The Spartans committed 10 turnovers in the first seven minutes as Minnesota opened the game with a 20-4 run. UNCG regained its composure to score the next six points and cut the lead to 10, but that was as close as the Spartans would get.
Minnesota took control after that, running off nine straight points and eventually opening the lead up to 23, 41-18. For the first half, the Spartans shot 56.5 percent from the floor (13-23), but they committed 15 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and Minnesota shot 68 percent from the floor (21-31) to have UNCG trailing, 51-27, at the intermission.
The loss marked the second-straight for UNCG and the third to a Big Ten team this season. It was also the first time in eight games this season that UNCG had lost when Hickman scored 15 or more points.
The Spartans return to action on January 5 when they host Wofford in their Southern Conference opener. Tip-off at Fleming Gymnasium is slated for 7 pm.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO (7-4)
Burrell, 7-14 5-6 19; Hickman, 6-10 2-3 15; Hines, 4-5 2-2 10; Oleksiak, 2-7 2-2 7; Bristow, 2-10 0-0 4; Everette, 1-2 0-0 2; Johnson, 1-3 0-0 2; Clifton, 0-0 0-0 0; Moore, 0-1 0-0 0; Beckford, 0-2 0-1 0; Gross, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 11-14 59.
MINNESOTA (8-3)
Grier, 9-13 4-4 25; Tucker, 6-10 1-2 15; Coleman, 5-7 0-0 12; Hagen, 4-7 1-1 9; Tollackson, 3-4 0-0 6; Nuness, 2-3 0-0 6; Lawson, 2-3 1-2 6; Stamper, 1-2 4-6 6; Williams, 1-1 2-2 4; Robinson, 1-3 0-0 3; Webb, 0-1 2-2 2; Wooldridge, 0-2 0-0 0; Popp, 0-2 0-0 0; Saunders, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-58 15-19 94.
Halftime: Minnesota, 51-27. 3-point goals: UNC Greensboro 2-13 (Oleksiak, 1-3; Hickman, 1-4; Bristow, 0-1; Johnson, 0-1; Moore, 0-1; Beckford, 0-1; Burrell, 0-2), Minnesota 11-18 (Grier, 3-4; Coleman, 2-2; Tucker, 2-4; Nuness, 2-2; Robinson, 1-3; Lawson, 1-1; Popp, 0-1; Webb, 0-1). Fouled out: UNC Greensboro: None, Minnesota : None. Rebounds: UNC Greensboro 21 (Burrell, 4; Hines, 4; Hickman, 4), Minnesota 38 (Stamper, 6). Assists: UNC Greensboro 10 (Burrell, 3; Bristow, 3), Minnesota 24 (Robinson, 6). Total fouls: UNC Greensboro 15, Minnesota 16. A-9530
- UNCG -
