The Gophers left Omaha with plenty to take from Friday night, even if the scoreboard ended up on the wrong side.
Minnesota pushed Creighton to two overtimes in its final exhibition game before falling 89-86 at CHI Health Center, a game that turned when Bluejays guard Wes Enis drilled a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation to force the second extra period. It was another example of the kind of fight the Gophers showed throughout the night - and, as head coach Niko Medved said, the kind of response he wanted after things got rocky early.
“We faced some adversity right away,” Medved said. “We got down big.
Our starting point guard gets hurt and we challenged the guys at halftime. I really love the way we responded.
I thought we showed a lot of toughness. Our defense really picked up.”
Minnesota had to manage the night without Kyan Evans, who injured his right hip in the first half and did not return after playing 13 minutes. A U spokeswoman said Friday the North Carolina transfer was held out for “precautionary reasons.”
The Gophers were behind from the start. They opened with three turnovers and four missed shouts as Creighton raced to an 11-0 lead. Medved burned a timeout, and Minnesota answered with a 12-3 surge to trim the deficit to 14-12.
That early bounce didn’t last. Creighton built a 44-31 halftime lead after Minnesota turned it over 11 times in the opening half, with those miscues leading to 10 Bluejays points. The gap only widened to 18 points early in the second half when Creighton moved ahead 49-31.
From there, though, Minnesota dug in. The Bluejays went without a bucket over the final seven minutes of regulation, and the Gophers clawed all the way back to force overtime.
Isaac Asuma carried much of the scoring load, finishing with 32 points on 11-for-22 shooting. He nearly tied the game at 87 with five seconds left, but the basket was ruled a two instead of a three, leaving Minnesota down 87-86. After Creighton added two free throws, Asuma’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.
Kai Shinholster gave Minnesota chances to steal it in the final 90 seconds of regulation. The backup guard scored on two drives to put the Gophers ahead twice, then missed a layup and a jumper that would have won it after Creighton tied the game.
The Gophers’ mistakes piled up again in the second overtime. They committed four turnovers in those four minutes, part of a 20-turnover night that dwarfed Creighton’s eight. Minnesota also shot just 13 for 28 from the free throw line, including 1 for 8 from Malick Kordel.
“We had several chances down the stretch,” Medved said. “We couldn’t make a free throw when we needed to and just too many costly turnovers.”
Minnesota had already opened exhibition play with a 72-52 win over Omaha on Oct. 15. The regular season begins Nov. 2 against North Dakota at The Barn.
“We got a little bit more than a week,” Medved said. “We got exactly what we needed out of this. We learned a lot about ourselves.”
Creighton entered the night picked to finish seventh in the 11-team Big East preseason poll. The Bluejays had already beaten Iowa State 83-80 in Ames in their first exhibition game on Oct. 18.
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