Dawson Garcia scored 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, and Minnesota held on for a 68-64 win over Omaha on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Trey Edmonds added 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting off the bench for Minnesota (2-0). Lu’Cye Patterson added eight points, six rebounds and six assists, and Mike Mitchell Jr. and Brennan Rigsby chipped in six points apiece.
Kamryn Thomas scored 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting to lead Omaha (2-1). Marquel Sutton scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Isaac Ondekane finished with 11 points to go along with six boards.
Minnesota shot 45.5 percent (25 of 55) overall and 17.6 percent (3 of 17) from beyond the arc. Omaha shot 41.2 percent (21 of 51) from the field and 30 percent (6 of 20) from 3-point range.
The Mavericks took a 57-54 lead after Ondekane made a pair of free throws with 6:15 remaining.
Minnesota responded with a 7-0 run to pull ahead 61-57 with 4:41 to go. Isaac Asuma buried a 3-pointer, Edmonds added a pair of free throws and Rigsby made a dunk to complete the run.
The Golden Gophers held on to their lead in the closing minutes. Omaha closed within 65-64 with 1:40 to go when Thomas made a layup, but Minnesota scored the final three points of the game on a free throw by Garcia and two by Patterson.
Omaha led 33-30 at the half.
The Golden Gophers led by as many as six points during the first half. Garcia converted a three-point play with a layup and a free throw to put Minnesota ahead 22-16 with 8:28 to go before the break.
Omaha responded with an 11-1 run to seize a 27-23 advantage with 3:11 to play. The run included four points from Tony Osburn, three apiece from Ja’Sean Glover and Ondekane and one free throw from J.J. White.
White made a jump shot with six seconds left to give the Mavericks a three-point lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
