Isaac Asuma scored 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting and dished out six assists as Minnesota cruised to a 91-61 win over Southern on Thursday in Minneapolis.
Bobby Durkin added 15 points and six assists for Minnesota (4-0). Kyan Evans, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Malick Kordel finished with 10 points apiece, and Evans also logged six assists.
Daniel Dormu and Justin Page each scored 12 points to lead Southern (0-5). Lionel Larvadain finished with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting.
Minnesota shot 60% (33 of 55) from the field and 48.1% (13 of 27) from 3-point range. Southern made 46.2% overall (24 of 52) and 38.5% (5 of 13) from beyond the arc.
Southern struggled on the glass as Minnesota finished with a 40-21 rebounding edge.
The Golden Gophers surged ahead with a 14-0 run midway through the first half.
After R’Chaun King made a jump shot to give Southern a 10-8 advantage with 15:19 left in the half, Minnesota took control.
Kordel made a layup to even the score. Nolan Groves followed with a go-ahead 3-pointer, and Kordel made back-to-back dunks to put the Golden Gophers up 17-10 with 12:27 remaining before the break.
The scoring binge continued as Asuma knocked down a 3-pointer. Evans capped the run with a driving layup to give Minnesota a 22-10 lead with 10:30 to go in the half.
Malik Ferguson made a layup to break Southern’s scoring drought and cut the deficit to 22-14.
Minnesota increased its lead to as many as 22 points in the first half. Durkin drained a 3-pointer to put the Golden Gophers on top 46-24 with 44 seconds remaining.
Southern pulled within 46-26 at the break after Joseph Hunter made a layup with 28 seconds left to finish the first-half scoring.
The Golden Gophers opened the second half on an 8-3 run to increase their lead to 25. Kordel finished an alley-oop dunk to make it 54-29 with 16:30 to go.
Groves hit a layup to boost Minnesota’s lead to 30 points with 13:17 remaining.