MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team opened up the 2017-18 season with a 106-58 exhibition loss to the 15^th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday night at Williams Arena.
 
Concordia used a solid run midway through the opening half to put some pressure on the Gophers in front of a good crowd at The Barn, but Minnesota proved to be too much as they pulled away in the second half to claim the comfortable victory on their home court.
 
The U of M hit 52.7% (39-74) of their shots on the night while the Golden Bears connected on 35.6% (21-59) of their attempts. CSP proved to be more efficient from deep by knocking down 9-22 (40.9%) compared to 10-26 (38.5%) for Minnesota.
 
Second chance points, fast break points and points off of turnovers proved to be the difference for the Gophers as they finished with significant edges in all three areas. CSP finished with a 28-0 deficit in second chance points as well as a 26-2 deficit in fast break points and a 24-2 edge in points off turnovers. The U of M finished a 52-30 edge in rebounds, including an 18-7 edge on the offensive glass, while also forcing 17 turnovers compared to six turnovers of their own on the night.
 
Bryndan Matthews put together an impressive performance for CSP as he knocked down 6-10 from the floor with a pair of threes while also chipping in four boards, an assist and a steal. Cody Carlson joined him in double figures with 11 points, three assists and two rebounds in his collegiate debut while Avan Ward also hit double figures with 10 points and three boards on the night. Evan Wesenberg and Ahmad Newsome each grabbed a team-best seven rebounds while Elliot Kane dished out six assists in the loss.
 
Jordan Murphy paced Minnesota with a game-high 22 points and 11 boards to pick up the double-double while Nate Mason contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in a full line. Jamir Harris and and Amir Coffey also hit double digits as Harris finished with 12 and Coffey had 10.
 
The Gophers came out firing with the first seven points of the game as they opened on a 20-5 run through the first five plus minutes of the game. The lead grew to 22 just after under-12 media timeout as Minnesota push their advantage to 31-9, but the Golden Bears battled back to make things interesting. Concordia strung together an extended 18-7 run to cut the deficit in half at 38-27 with 4:33 left in the half, capped off by an impressive 7-0 run to turn the tide in their favor. The Golden Bears were held to just three points for the remainder of the half as the U of M went into the break with a 52-30 edge.
 
Matthews put together an efficient first half as he led the Golden Bears with 13 points on 5-7 shooting while also knocking down both of his free throw attempts. Carlson and Kane each chipped in six points apiece in the opening 20 minutes as CSP hit 11-29 (37.9%) from the floor and 5-12 (41.7%) from deep.
 
Murphy did most of his damage before the half with a game-high 18 points and eight boards to lead the way while Mason filled the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal. As a team, the Gophers hit 60.0% (21-35) of their shots in the half as they held a 14-0 edge in second chance points and a 9-0 edge in points off turnovers during that span.
 
Minnesota opened the second half with another significant run as they grabbed 10 of the first 11 points and 18 of 22 to make it 70-34 just over five minutes in.  Concordia slowed the momentum from there as the two teams spent much of the rest of the half trading buckets. With the game in hand late, the U of M pushed the lead to as many as XX before settling with a final score of 106-58.
 
Ward led CSP with 10 points in the second half while Minnesota's Jamir Harris led all scorers with 12 points after the break.
 
CSP begins play in the regular season next weekend with a trip to Arkansas as they take on Arkansas-Monticello next Friday and Arkansas Tech next Saturday.