Nov. 20, 2015 Final Stats
Final Stats | Season Stats | Puerto Rico Tip-Off
SAN JUAN, P.R. - A personal 8-0 run by Missouri State's Camyn Boone sparked a second-half rally by the Bears here Friday in the consolation round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but Minnesota made four big free throws in crunch time to hang on for a 74-69 win.
Boone finished with a team-high 17 points for MSU (0-3), while freshman Obediah Church added 15, Austin Ruder scored 12 and Dequon Miller added 11 for the Bears who out-rebounded the larger Golden Gophers by a 40-34 margin.
Minnesota (3-1) got a game-high 18 points from Joey King, a former MVC All-Freshman Team selection at Drake, while Carlos Morris added 12 for the Big Ten Conference foe.
Down 44-31 at the half and 49-31 early in the second period, the Bears used solid defense and free throw opportunities to climb back into the game. Ruder, who converted a pair of key 3-pointers in the first half, did the same in the second half, scoring twice beyond the arc in the span of just over two minutes to make it a 54-51 game with 10:53 to go.
Minnesota responded with three 3-pointers of their own over the next three minutes and pushed back ahead by double figures, 63-53, with 7:49 remaining. Morris scored on a put-back after that to push UM's margin to 12.
But Boone took things into his own hands from there, rallying Paul Lusk's troops within 65-61 on a personal 8-0 outburst before Morris ended the streak with a close-range bucket and just under 5 minutes to play.
Miller, who played 37 minutes for MSU, knocked down his only field goal of the afternoon with just over 3 minutes left to make it 67-64 before a 3-pointer by Morris at the 2:32 mark gave Richard Pitino's squad some needed momentum. Morris' bucket would be Minnesota's final field goal of the game - and was the Golden Gophers' sixth trey of the second period out of 9 total field goals.
Boone scored again with 79 seconds left to get MSU within 70-66. Moments later, a pair of free throws by Kevin Dorsey sparked UM before Church converted a clutch 3-point play with a bucket and free throw with 18 ticks left to play to make it a 72-69 game.
Morris made two more clutch foul shots for the Golden Gophers with 16 seconds left, and the Bears missed a pair of shots down the stretch to fall by five points.
"It was a good game, but there are no moral victories," said Lusk. "I love my guys, and this is really going to help us. I thought we responded well after getting embarrassed yesterday and falling behind early today."
Church posted a game-high 9 rebounds to go along with a 9-for-14 day at the foul line and a pair of blocked shots. Miller was 8-for-11 at the line with 5 assists, and Boone posted 5 rebounds in his first appearance off the bench in 32 games.
"That's the Cam Boone we know," said Lusk. "He struggled during our first two games, and he was a difference maker today. He showed composure down the stretch."
MSU outscored Minnesota 26-24 in the paint and got 35 points from its reserves, compared to 19 for the Gophers.
For the game, Missouri State was 19-for-54 (.352) overall, 5-of-18 (.278) beyond the arc and 26-of-37 (.703) at the free throw line. The Bears committed 11 turnovers and notched double-figure offensive rebounds (13) for the second day here in Puerto Rico.
Minnesota made six more field goals than Missouri State, converting 25-of-56 (.446) overall, 13-of-23 (.565) from long range and 11-of-19 (.579) at the stripe. The Golden Gophers committed 12 turnovers.
In the first half, King helped ignite a fast start by the Golden Gophers, knocking down five 3-pointers in the first seven-and-a-half minutes to push Minnesota ahead 17-8.
Minnesota made its first seven bombs from beyond the arc, but the Bears counter-punched with two key first-half treys by Ruder. The first at the 13:38 mark made it an 11-7 game, and his second with just under 9 minutes left in the half got Missouri State back within single digits at 27-19.
Down the stretch, the Bears went the final 7 minutes of the opening half without a field goal, going 0-for-9 in that span, but survived an 8-0 Gophers run by making shots at the foul line. In the final 3:35, the Bears went 9-of-12 at the stripe and went into the break trailing 44-31.
The Bears will have Saturday off before concluding the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Sunday at 11 a.m. (Central) against either Texas Tech or Mississippi State, which play later this evening in consolation action.
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