Gophers sweep California teams with comeback win at UCLA

Yahoo

19-02-2025

The Gophers men's basketball team had a bear of a time with UCLA's defense in Tuesday's first half.
The Bruins hold opponents to 64.8 points per game, which is best in the Big Ten, and Minnesota managed only 23 points in the first half — UCLA's lowest total allowed in conference play this season.
Minnesota star Dawson Garcia had only five points in the first half but 27 in the second half of a 64-61 win at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Minnesota (14-12, 6-9) swept the two California teams. Only Michigan has also done that this season. The U also staked a big comeback to beat USC 69-66 on the road Saturday.
UCLA (19-8, 1065 Big Ten) were 11-point favorites and had won eight of nine.
Lu'Cye Patterson, who was also stifled in the first half, hit a big lay-up with a minute left to give the Gophers their first head at 60-59.
Sebastian Mack gave the Bruins the lead back with a lay-up with 44 seconds remaining.
Patterson missed a trey with 20 seconds remaining but got a lay-up with seven ticks left. He finished with 11 points. also drew a charge on Mack in the final seconds.
The Gophers fell into a 17-point deficit as UCLA went on a 9-0 run to make it 29-12 with 5:31 remaining in the half. But the U went on a 11-5 finish to the half and trail 34-23.
The Bruins paid extra attention to Dawson Garcia and Lu'Cye Patterson with extra defenders. They combined to shoot 4 for 10 from the field and a combined 10 points.
Mike Mitchell helped keep Minnesota closer with eight first half points and a pair of 3-pointers. He had a pair of threes in the second half and finished with 14.