Gophers end five-game losing streak by pulling away from Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Braeden Carrington came off the bench Wednesday night trying to bring the energy to the Gophers that was tough for the Williams Arena crowd to provide against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

It was another sparse turnout with an announced 8,127 fans in attendance, not surprising since the Gophers were on a five-game losing streak, the longest before January in more than a decade.

But the Gophers faithful that showed up to support the team during a rough early-season stretch got rewarded with a shooting display from Carrington and Jamison Battle, who combined for 38 points and nine three-pointers in a 72-56 victory.

"We just needed to get a win by any means to get that mojo back," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. "I told our guys everybody should feel good about what they did tonight because everybody contributed to the win."

The Gophers (5-6) allowed Pine Bluff to tie the score midway through the first half after going scoreless from the field for 5½ minutes. The continued ball movement eventually got their top shooters feeling comfortable again.

Carrington, who won a state title with Park Center in March at the Barn, had a team-high 20 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three. His biggest impact came to ignite a 20-5 run in the first half with 11 consecutive points to help the Gophers break out of another early scoring drought.

After going 3-for-21 from beyond the arc in his previous four games, Carrington was the beneficiary of a few quick ball reversals and kick-out passes. Minnesota's reigning Mr. Basketball took advantage with three consecutive three-pointers during that first-half surge.

"It feels good because the last couple games I haven't been hitting," Carrington said. "My teammates had trust in me. It definitely feels good when they keep throwing me the ball and believe I can make it."

Battle, who was held to a season-low five points in Sunday's 69-51 loss vs. undefeated Mississippi State, bounced back with 18 points Wednesday, including five of the U's 12 three-pointers.

During the five-game losing streak, the Gophers had trouble getting Battle and Dawson Garcia quality touches offensively, but they shined together against Pine Bluff. Garcia finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists.

"You just got to stay confident and keep believing that you put in the work," Battle said, "So your time is going to come. That's something I've had steady in my head."

The Gophers never led once in the second half in the five consecutive losses, so they had to prove they could stay ahead late Wednesday when Pine Bluff's Chris Greene nailed a three to cut it to 44-43 with just under 14 minutes to play.

"The upperclassmen did a good job of making sure everybody understood we can't have lapses," Johnson said. "Now was the time where we had to grow from what we saw."

Johnson switched to a 2-3 zone to stop dribble penetration, but that didn't slow down Pine Bluff enough to pull within 56-53 off a turnover to score its 14th fast-break point.

Nothing felt safe down the stretch until back-to-back threes fell from Carrington and Battle to fuel an 11-0 run to seal the first victory since escaping Cal Baptist 62-61 in overtime on Nov. 21 in the SoCal Challenge in California.

The combined record of the U's opponents in the five consecutive losses was 46-4 as of Tuesday's games. That included Purdue (now No. 1 in the country), UNLV, and Mississippi State at 29-0. Pine Bluff, from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, now has a 3-9 record.

It was only a matter of time before the schedule eased up for the Gophers, who have two more nonconference home games to keep momentum going vs. Chicago State (Dec. 22) and Alcorn State (Dec. 29).