Minnesota looks to stop skid vs. Bethune-Cookman

Field Level Media|published: Sat 30th November, 18:13 2024

NCAA Basketball: ESPN Events Invitational-Third Place Minnesota at Wake Forest

Nov 29, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson looks on against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the second half at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Minnesota will try to bounce back from two straight losses when it hosts Bethune-Cookman on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

The Golden Gophers (5-3) are coming off a 57-51 loss against Wake Forest on Friday, which followed a 68-66 overtime loss against Wichita State on Thursday. Both games took place at the ESPN Events Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Minnesota coach Ben Johnson cited inconsistency on offense as the main reason for his team's recent skid.

"We're painfully figuring that out," Johnson said. "I thought our defense, though, (Thursday and Friday) has proven this is a top-40 or top-30 defense. We've got to be able to show up with offense and free throws."

Golden Gophers starter Lu'Cye Patterson said he and his teammates remain confident in their potential as the Big Ten conference season approaches.

"We just have to keep doing what we're supposed to do and keep our level of defensive play up," Patterson said. "It's going to win us a lot of games. The offense is going to come."

Bethune-Cookman (2-5) will try to play spoiler on the road. The Wildcats have split their past two games as they beat North Dakota 79-67 on Tuesday and lost to Gardner-Webb 79-64 on Wednesday, both games played in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.

Four players for Bethune-Cookman scored in double digits in their most recent game. Reggie Ward Jr. and Daniel Rouzan led the way with 14 points apiece, Trey Thomas scored 13 and Brayon Freeman chipped in 10.

Bethune-Cookman is coached by Reggie Theus, who enjoyed a long NBA career and coached the Sacramento Kings for parts of two seasons. Theus said the Wildcats were in better position to compete this season compared with a season ago.

"We've got a lot of depth, and we have age and experience," Theus said. "One of the biggest differences in our team is that we have great size now, where last year we were pretty small."

Dawson Garcia leads Minnesota with 18.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Patterson is next with 10.1 points per contest.

Bethune-Cookman is led by Freeman, who is averaging 15.9 points per game. Thomas (11.7 points per game) and Ward Jr. (11.0) also are scoring in double digits.

--Field Level Media