Gophers beat No. 19

Andre Hollins had a lot to deal with as he and his Minnesota teammate prepared to face Memphis in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

His grandmother died last weekend. And across the court from him Friday were a lot people he knows well — he was one of the Memphis high school players who got away.

When the Gophers’ 84-75 victory over the 19th-ranked Tigers in the consolation semifinals was over, Hollins had scored a career-high 41 points — a figure no Minnesota player had reached in 41 years — and received hugs from his mother and others who made the trip to the Bahamas.

“This definitely a great feeling,” Hollins said with a wide smile. “It is my hometown team. I won two state championships with a couple of the other guys on Memphis. It was a great feeling to win against guys I used to play with.”

Minnesota tops Vermont

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Minnesota scored three goals in the second period and coasted to a 5-1 win Friday over Vermont.

Nick Bjugstad scored his seventh goal of the season just seconds after leaving the penalty box.

Three minutes later, the fourth-ranked Gophers (8-2-2) got a goal from Mike Reilly to make it 5-1 heading into the third period.

Minnesota’s Seth Ambroz and Vermont’s Brett Bruneteau traded goals before Kyle Rau gave the Gophers the lead for good at 18:39 of the first period. Zach Budish’s power-play goal just 2:26 into the second period got Minnesota rolling on its first trip to Vermont.

The Gophers are unbeaten in their last five games (3-0-2). Gophers goalie Adam Wilcox made 22 saves

Brody Hoffman struggled in nets for the Catamounts (2-5-2). He turned away 30 shots, including 14 in the second period.

Tags: college sports, sports, basketball