Gophers commit 27 turnovers, beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi anyway
The Minnesota Gophers men's basketball team scorched the nets at Williams Arena on Tuesday night as they used some hot shooting to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 79-71.
The Gophers left little doubt early in this game on the strength of 10 3-pointers in the first half. Payton Willis led the way for Minnesota, launching five treys on the way to 17 first-half points.
Still, the Islanders showed why they came into the game with a 9-1 record. After the Gophers built a 26-point lead, Texas A&M-CC used a 21-3 run to cut the lead down to eight points in the second half.
Minnesota also had 27 turnovers on the night, which made things more difficult than they should have been. But Luke Loewe (12 points), E.J. Stephens (16 points), Jamison Battle (16 points) and Willis (17 points) all finished in double figures and the Gophers shot 58.1 percent from the floor to help secure the victory.
The Gophers improved to 9-1 (1-0 Big Ten) with the victory and will host UW-Green Bay on Dec. 22.