Dawson Garcia scored 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as Minnesota opened with an 80-60 win over visiting Bethune-Cookman on Monday night in Minneapolis.

Braeden Carrington added 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting for Minnesota. Elijah Hawkins scored 10 points, and Isaiah Ihnen and Joshua Ola-Joseph contributed eight points apiece.

Jakobi Heady led Bethune-Cookman with 17 points on 8-for-20 shooting. Zion Harmon scored 11 points in his freshman debut, and Damani McEntire finished with 11 points.

Minnesota shot 52.2 percent (24 of 46) from the field. By contrast, Bethune-Cookman shot 32.9 percent (23 of 70) from the field.

Bethune-Cookman stormed back to cut the deficit to 64-52 with 6:16 remaining in the second half. McEntire made a layup to pull the Wildcats within 12 points.

Minnesota regrouped by scoring 11 of the next 15 points to pull ahead 75-58 with 1:41 remaining. Carrington made a slam dunk to finish the late scoring binge.

A pair of free throws by Garcia gave the Golden Gophers a 17-point lead with 10:35 to go. Garcia put Minnesota on top 58-41 before Bethune-Cookman mounted a late rally.

Minnesota built a 46-22 lead at the half.

After Ola-Joseph made a dunk to put Minnesota on top 10-7, Bethune-Cookman quickly responded with a jump shot by Harmon to cut the deficit to 10-9.

The Golden Gophers then went on a 10-0 run to seize a 20-9 advantage. Parker Fox made a layup off an assist from Mike Mitchell Jr. to cap the run.

Bethune-Cookman regrouped midway through the first half as it tried to stem the slide. James Henderson Jr. made a jump shot to pull within 29-15 with 9:21 remaining.

Minnesota’s 13-2 run led to a 42-17 advantage late in the first half. Pharrel Payne grabbed an offensive rebound and put back a layup to punctuate the run.

–Field Level Media