Utes Fall to Golden Gophers 79-68

Monday, November 12

Minneapolis, Minn.

7:00 PM

University of Utah

1-1

Minnesota

2-0

Utah

Minnesota

11/12/2018 9:44 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Hendrix notches career-high 14 points

MINNEAPOLIS – Utah's Sedrick Barefield and Vante Hendrix led the Runnin' Utes with 14 points each, but it was not enough as Utah (1-1) fell to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-0) on the road, 79-68, Monday evening at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

Utah trailed at the break, 33-26. Novak Topalovic led the team with 10 points, but Minnesota's Gabe Kalscheur led all players with 12 points at the half. The Utes trailed early, 12-7, but would go on a 9-0 run and led for the first time in the game when Hendrix drilled a three-pointer at the 11 minute mark. The Gophers countered though, with a 10-0 run to go up 24-18 with less than five minutes to play. Both team would trade buckets down the stretch, but Kalscheur's three-pointer with 26 seconds to play gave the home team its seven-point lead at intermission.

Utah opened the second half with a pair of free throws and a made layup from Donnie Tillman, but Minnesota scored 13 of the game's next 16 points and later pushed its lead to 15, up 57-42 with 9:21 left to play. Despite the 15-point deficit, Utah managed to claw its way back to trail within five points at the 6:13 mark, but the home team outscored the Utes 16-12 down the stretch to earn the nine-point victory.

Utah shot just .400 in the game overall, while Minnesota shot better than 50 percent on the night with a .518 shooting percentage coming from the home team. Both teams made seven three-pointers each, but Minnesota's shots from downtown came early in the game, forcing Utah to comeback from the deficit.

Barefield scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half, while Hendrix poured in 11 of his total in the final 20 minutes of play, as well.

Utah returns home this Thursday, Nov. 15, to take on the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside the Huntsman Center.