Box Score Game Stats (pdf)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Wofford men’s basketball team opened the season on Friday night with a 69-55 loss to Minnesota at Williams Arena. The Terriers had four players score in double figures, but it was not enough against the Gophers.

Wofford is 0-1 on the season and Minnesota is 1-0. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 15 points and Tim Johnson had 13 rebounds and ten points for a double-double. Jamar Diggs and Cameron Rundles had 14 and 10 points, respectively. The Gophers leading scorer was Ralph Sampson III with 20 points and he was also the leading rebounder with 13. Trevor Mbakwe also had a double-double for Minnesota.

The Terriers took an early lead at 7-5 four minutes into the game. The Gophers were able to respond with an 11-0 run to take a 16-7 lead with 12:36 left in the first half. The lead was pushed to ten points after a three by Chip Armelin at 19-9. Minnesota kept a double-digit lead until six minutes to go in the half when shots by Jamar Diggs and Tim Johnson cut the advantage to 24-18. The Gophers slowly built the lead back to ten points and at the half Minnesota had a 31-21 lead as the Terriers were held to 26.9% shooting.

Wofford opened the second half with a three by Cameron Rundles to make it a 31-24 game, but six minutes into play the Gophers had extended the lead to 41-27. Buckets by Jamar Diggs and Terry Martin cut the lead back to ten points at the 13:30 mark, but the Gophers answered and built a 51-36 advantage with 9:12 to play.

At the four minute mark, the Terriers cut the lead back to nine points after two free throws by Noah Dahlman. A Minnesota bucket was answered by a lay-up by Noah Dahlman for a 58-49 score with 2:48 remaining, but that was as close as the Terriers would come. The Gophers made free throws down the stretch for the final 69-55 score.

Wofford shot 36.7% from the floor and were 18.8% from three. From the free throw line, the Terriers were 61.5%. Minnesota was 44.6% overall and were 20.0% from behind the arc. They were 64.0% from the line. Minnesota had a 41-31 lead on the boards and Wofford had 15 turnovers in the contest.

The game marked a return home for Noah Dahlman, Jamar Diggs and Cameron Rundles, all of whom are from Minnesota. All three scored in double figures on the night.

The Terriers will return to South Carolina and face Clemson on Monday night at 7:00 pm in Littlejohn Coliseum. After playing in the Charleston Classic, Wofford will open the home slate on November 24 against Air Force in Benjamin Johnson Arena.