Gopher basketball loses 77-65 in Sioux Falls to San Francisco

After a strong and encouraging start to the season, Gopher hoops has floundered over the past couple of weeks. They needed overtime to beat Green Bay, they trailed Chicago State in the final 11 minutes before pulling away and on Saturday afternoon they were beat by San Francisco in a game that was controlled by the Dons throughout.

Ryan Beasley led all scorers and was highly efficient. The Dons’ guard finished with 24 points, four assists, shot 4/6 from three and was 4/4 from the free throw line. Tyrone Riley and Mookie Cook each added 14 for San Francisco.

THE STAT: It is very quickly becoming apparent that this team, like several others in recent memory, is not very good at making free throws. Minnesota got to the free-throw line 30 times on Saturday but only made half of them. For the season, Minnesota is the 8th best team in the country at getting free throw opportunities; they are 317th in making them.

TURNING POINT: The Dons never trailed in this game, and held a three or four-possession lead for most it. But the Gophers did go on a 11-2 run in the 2nd half to tie the game at 52-52. But San Francisco hit back-to-back threes to give themselves a little cushion and they slowly put Minnesota away in the final six minutes.

TOUGH GAME: Isaac Asuma is having a tough start to the season and Saturday only added to his struggles. The sophomore guard finished with three turnovers, two points and was 0-3 from three.

NOTABLE: Gophers’ starting center, Robert Vaihola did not play in this game. This meant more minutes for Grayson Grove and Nehemia Turner in the front court and more rebounds for San Francisco. Typically a strength for the Gophers, but the Dons dominated the glass in this one.

UP NEXT: Minnesota heads to Palm Springs for the Acrisure Series. They will play Sanford on Thursday night and then on Friday they will play either Santa Clara or Saint Louis.