The Minnesota Golden Gophers opened as signficant favorites over the Fairfield Stags for Thursday night's college basketball matchup, and they would go on to prevail. Minnesota won 67-57 on the back of a strong second half performance and strong play from Trevor Mbakwe. He had 20 points with 10 rebounds, an assist, two steals and a block on the night. He did only go 2-for-7, but was given a whopping 18 free throw attempts - he sunk 16 of them.
At the end of the first half, the score was 29-24 favoring Minnesota, and they'd go on to outscore Fairfield 38-33 in the second half. It was a close game, but not one that Minnesota was ever in danger of losing, for the most part. Desmond Wade led the way for the Stags, with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. He went 6-of-8, and missed his only three-point attempt. Ryan Olander went 8-for-11 on his free throws.
With the win, the Golden Gophers move to a perfect 3-0 on the season and Fairfield drops to 1-2. The Golden Gophers will next take on Mount St. Mary's next Monday before two tougher games against DePaul and Virginia Tech, which will both be broadcast on ESPN 2.