Jamison Battle scored 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, and Minnesota pulled away for a 72-56 win over Green Bay on Wednesday evening in Minneapolis.
Payton Willis registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists for Minnesota (10-1). Eric Curry also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Sean Sutherlin contributed 12 points off the bench.
Kamari McGee scored 14 points on 7-for-4 shooting to lead Green Bay (2-9). Donovan Ivory finished with 11 points, and Cade Meyer chipped in nine.
After a bumpy first half, Minnesota came out strong in the second half to set the tone for the rest of the game. The Golden Gophers opened the second half on a 12-2 run to turn a one-point deficit into a nine-point advantage.
Battle opened the second half with a slam dunk off an assist from Willis. On the next possession, Willis drained a 3-pointer to make it 33-29.
Curry made a jump shot, Luke Loewe hit a 3-pointer and E.J. Stephens made a layup to round out the decisive run for Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers increased their lead to 15 points with 6:07 remaining. Loewe assisted on a layup by Sutherlin to make it 61-46.
Meyer converted a three-point play about a minute later for Green Bay, but by then the Golden Gophers still enjoyed a double-digit lead.
Green Bay led 29-28 at the half.
The Golden Gophers led 10-6 after Battle made a layup with 14:48 to go in the first half. The basket gave Battle eight of Minnesota’s first 10 points.
Green Bay responded with an 8-0 run to seize a 14-10 lead with 12:22 remaining in the half. McGee made a pair of layups during the run, which also included a layup and a jumper by Emmanuel Ansong.
The Phoenix increased their lead to 24-19 after Meyer made a pair of free throws with 4:29 left before the break.
Minnesota scored nine of the final 14 points in the first half to close the deficit to one.
–Field Level Media
