MINNEAPOLIS — A young Minnesota squad learned some good and bad about itself in the second half Sunday.
It resulted in a win.
Kevin Dorsey and Joey King keyed a second-half surge and the Gophers lost a double-digit lead but rallied to beat Louisiana-Monroe 67-56.
King finished with 20 points, Nate Mason had 12 and Dorsey 11 for the Golden Gophers (2-0).
The Warhawks (1-1) got 16 points from Majok Deng. Travis Munnings added 12 and Jamaal Samuel had 11.
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"Different people stepping up in different situations. Everyone played a big part of this win," Mason said.
Minnesota, which pulled away in the second half to beat Missouri-Kansas City 76-58 Friday, couldn't repeat that performance as they allowed ULM to take the lead before playing well at both ends in the final minutes.
Starting the second half up by 13, the Gophers trailed by a point with about seven minutes to play. Mason then hit a long jumper, Dorsey drained a 3-pointer and King scored on a tip during an 11-0 Minnesota run that put the Gophers up 61-51.
"We knew we just had to stay composed," Mason said. "I feel like we tend to panic sometimes, and I didn't want the team to panic this time."
ULM scored just 5 points in the final 6:45.
"To go hold them scoreless nine of the last 11 possessions . to outscore them 17-5 is really good," said Gophers coach Richard Pitino. "We got stops. It wasn't pretty, but we found a way to do it."
Minnesota, which made a dozen 3-pointers Friday, was just 3-for-22 from long range.
Gophers 67, Warhawks 56
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LOUISIANA-MONROE (1-1)
Munnings 5-10 2-4 12, Samuel 5-15 0-1 11, Deng 6-12 3-4 16, Roberson 2-11 2-3 6, Coppola 1-6 0-0 3, Harvey 1-1 2-2 4, Cooper 1-3 0-0 2, Foster 0-1 0-0 0, Washington 0-1 2-2 2, Martin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 11-16 56.
MINNESOTA (2-0)
Buggs 3-7 2-2 8, King 5-10 9-10 20, Diedhiou 0-2 0-0 0, Morris 1-8 2-2 4, Mason 5-10 1-1 12, Gilbert 0-2 0-0 0, Konate 3-5 0-1 6, Dorsey 3-6 4-4 11, Murphy 2-6 2-2 6, McBrayer 0-2 0-0 0, Sharp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 20-22 67.
Halftime— Minnesota 38-25. 3-Point Goals— Louisiana-Monroe 3-16 (Coppola 1-2, Deng 1-3, Samuel 1-4, Munnings 0-1, Washington 0-1, Martin 0-2, Roberson 0-3), Minnesota 3-22 (Dorsey 1-3, King 1-4, Mason 1-4, McBrayer 0-1, Konate 0-1, Murphy 0-1, Gilbert 0-2, Buggs 0-3, Morris 0-3). Fouled Out— None. Rebounds— Louisiana-Monroe 43 (Munnings 9), Minnesota 41 (King 8). Assists— Louisiana-Monroe 7 (Coppola 3), Minnesota 12 (Mason 4). Total Fouls— Louisiana-Monroe 22, Minnesota 19. A— 9,915.
