The Minnesota Golden Gophers started off the 2024-25 season with a victory on Wednesday night, defeating Oral Roberts 80-57 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
The Gophers were led by forward Dawson Garcia, who scored 30 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the field and eight rebounds. Garcia was a preseason All-Big Ten selection heading into his senior season.
Guard Frank Mitchell didn't play in the Gophers' regular-season opener as he's been dealing with a shoulder injury. Mitchell is expecting to start when he returns but on Wednesday night, head coach Ben Johnson went with Lu'Cye Patterson, Mike Mitchell Jr. Brennan Rigsby, Parker Fox Garcia as the starting five.
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The Gophers went on a 17-6 run to start the game, capped off by a thunderous dunk by UTSA transfer Trey Edmonds III.
Garcia scored 18 of his 30 points in the first half alone, shooting 7-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point line. The Golden Gophers led the Golden Eagles 38-24 at halftime.
Parker Fox continued his perfect shooting as he begins his final season in maroon and gold, finishing the game 6-for-6 from the field after he went 10-for-10 in the team's two preseason games. He finished with 13 points.
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Mitchell Jr. led the Gophers with nine assists, adding seven points and three rebounds to his performance.
The Gophers shot 57.7% (30-for-52) from the field and 61.1% from the three-point line (11-for-18) while Oral Roberts only shot 34.5% (20-for-58) from the field and 30.4% (7-for-23) from three.
Minnesota also dished out 25 assists and forced 13 turnovers while only turning over eight times.
Minnesota will continue non-conference play on Saturday at Williams Arena against Nebraska at Omaha. Tip-off is schedule for 2:30 p.m. and can be watched on Peacock.
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