Dawson Garcia's double-double leads Minnesota over Fairleigh Dickinson

Dawson Garcia scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Minnesota pulled away for a 74-60 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. Mike Mitchell Jr. added 18 points for Minnesota (7-5), which bounced back from a pair of losses in its past two games. Femi Odukale scored 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Jo'el Emanuel notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Fairleigh Dickinson (4-10). Ahmed Barba-Bey finished with a team-high 15 points for the Knights, who fell to 0-9 on the road. Minnesota shot 49.1 percent (27 of 55) overall and 25 percent (5 of 20) from 3-point range. Fairleigh Dickinson shot 34.3 percent (23 of 67) from the field and 30.8 percent (8 of 26) from beyond the arc. The Golden Gophers outscored the Knights 54-39 in the second half to secure the win. A 12-0 run helped Minnesota build a second-half lead that it held until the final buzzer. During the run, the Golden Gophers turned a 33-30 edge into a 45-30 advantage. Lu'Cye Patterson started the run with a 3-pointer off an assist from Garcia with 14:01 remaining in the second half. Trey Edmonds added a layup with 13:24 left, and Patterson struck again with a jump shot to make it 40-30 with 12:41 to play. Mitchell Jr. increased the lead to 12 points with a pair of free throws with 10:49 to go. Brennan Rigsby finished the run with a 3-pointer with exactly 10 minutes left. Fairleigh Dickinson fought back within nine points when Barba-Bey made two free throws to cut the deficit to 57-48 with 3:27 remaining. Minnesota quickly pushed its lead back to double digits on a layup by Isaac Asuma and two more free throws from Mitchell Jr. The Golden Gophers reeled off six straight points in the final minute to increase their lead to 16. The Golden Gophers finished with a 42-31 advantage on the boards. They also posted a 10-0 advantage in fast-break points. --Field Level Media