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Gophers overwhelm Lafayette for eighth straight win

Dec 23, 2012 - 3:55 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Joe Coleman led 11 Minnesota scorers with 12 points and the No. 13 Golden Gophers concluded their non-conference schedule with a 75-50 thumping of the Lafayette Leopards on Saturday.

In helping Minnesota (12-1) claim its eighth straight win, Coleman connected on 6-of-8 shots from the field, while the Gophers also received 10 points from Oto Osenieks and eight points apiece from Rodney Williams, Maurice Walker and Maverick Ahanmisi.

"We're just showing consistency in how we're playing," said Coleman. "We're not differentiating how we're playing. I think it just shows consistency within our team, which is good."

After winning back-to-back games, the Leopards (5-9) were held to their second-lowest point total of the season with Dan Trist, Seth Hinrichs and Joey Ptasinski combining for 35 points.

Trist led the team with 14 points, while Hinrichs and Ptasinski scored 11 and 10, respectively, in defeat.

"We were a little bit slow in the first half, and I think we did a better job in the second half of executing plays," said Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon. "Minnesota is a good basketball team. There's a reason they're 12-1 and 13th in the nation."

After an 11-day layoff, the Golden Gophers came out a bit rusty, but it didn't take long for them to find their groove.

Lafayette grabbed a 6-4 edge four minutes in, but Minnesota then ripped off a 10-0 run, with Andre Hollins and Ahanmisi bookending the flurry with triples to give the Golden Gophers a 14-6 lead.

Following six straight points, Minnesota extended its advantage to 15 before Ptasinski drained a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 spurt for the Leopards, bringing them to within 28-20.

However, Minnesota scored 11 of the final 13 points in the first half to take a 37-22 lead into halftime.

The Leopards were unable dig themselves out of the hole and trailed by double- digits the entire the second half. Of their 47 field goals, 23 were from downtown, where they shot just 30.4 percent for the game. They also committed 18 turnovers -- which the Golden Gophers converted into 15 points -- and received just a single-point from their bench.

Meanwhile, Minnesota got excellent play from its reserves, as they totaled 42 points for the night.

Game Notes

Saturday's matchup was the first ever meeting between the two schools ... The Leopards fell to 0-7 on the road this season ... Of Minnesota's 40 rebounds, 21 of them came off the offensive glass ... Lafayette totaled just 22 rebounds for the game.