Four University of Minnesota students consumed more hotdogs in a halftime eating contest than the Gophers men’s basketball team made shots in the first half against Chicago State on Tuesday night.
On $2 dog night at Williams Arena, the male students mangled and mashed down the majority of 16 hot dogs (four apiece) in a sprint race, while the U players managed to make only nine of 30 shots in the opening 20-minute slog.
The Gophers’ performance in the second half continued to be stomach-churning as Chicago State, a 26-point underdog, went on a 18-6 run to take 45-44 lead with nine minutes left.
But Minnesota ended the game on a 21-7 run to escape a stunning upset with a 66-54 win at The Barn.
To show the magnitude of the narrow escape, Chicago State was ranked 361 out of 365 total teams in Division I going into the game, while Minnesota was in the 80s at tipoff.
Cade Tyson led the Gophers with 22 points, while Marcus Tankersley had 16 for Chicago State.
Gophers center Robert Vaihola appeared to hyperextend his right knee in the second half and didn’t return.
Minnesota (4-1) took a 22-8 lead after the first 10 minutes but struggled for the next 20-plus minutes.
Minnesota scored 87 and 95 points in its first two wins of the season, over Gardner-Webb and Alcorn State, respectively. But they scored only 60 against Missouri and 61 in regulation of the overtime win over Green Bay on Saturday.
Instead of showing kinks early in Niko Medved’s first season, they have gone from smooth sailing to rough waters. And it’s not just against higher competition in Missouri. Green Bay was 324 in KenPom.
The Gophers had troubles with zone defenses against Missouri and Green Bay, but Medved employed his own zone against Chicago State to great success down the stretch.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Gophers shot 30% from field, 20% from 3-point range and didn’t score a bucket over the final five minutes and 38 seconds. But Chicago State wasn’t any better, so Minnesota led 31-24 at the break.
Overall, Minnesota shot 36% from the field and 25 percent from deep.
The Gophers will play San Francisco in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday. Then Minnesota will go to Palm Springs to play Stanford on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and either Santa Clara or St. Louis on Nov. 28.
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