RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Behind 26 points from junior guard Andre Hollins, Minnesota defeated Richmond 74-59 on the road in the refurbished Robins Center Saturday night.
The Golden Gophers (3-0) avoided being upset in their only nonconference road game of the season. Austin Hollins and Malik Smith scored 11 points apiece on a night where neither team shot very well. Both teams shot under 40% from the field and 70% from the line.
Senior Cedrick Lindsay paced the Spiders (2-1) with 15 points on 5 of 16 from the field. Deion Taylor scored 11 points and Terry Allen ripped down 12 rebounds for the home team.
With the game tied at 59 with just less than six minutes remaining Andre Hollins put Minnesota in the lead with a floater in the lane and they never looked back. A Smith corner 3-pointer with less than four minutes to play deflated the home crowd and continued what turned into a 19-2 run to close the game.
The Spiders couldn't get anything going from behind the arch for a third straight game. They shot 3 of 25 from three, putting their season percentage at 13.8 percent (9 of 65).
In the first half the Golden Gophers stormed to a 12-0 lead that led to a Spider timeout less than two minutes into the contest. With the Minnesota lead reaching as many as 14 points, the Spiders spent the entire half crawling back into the game.
A back door cut from sophomore Deion Taylor was rewarded with a slicing bounce pass from Lindsay for the layup and the foul. The free throw put the Spiders ahead 37-36 with 2:20 remaining. But four unanswered points from junior Andre Hollins in the closing minutes of the half gave the Golden Gophers a 40-37 lead going into the break.
Andre Hollins led all scorers in the half with 13 points on 6-7 shooting from the free throw line. Malik Smith added eight points hitting two deep three pointers in the half. The Golden Gophers shot just 50 percent from the free throw line (8 of 16) and 38.9 percent from the field (14 of 36) in the opening half.
Lindsay had a team-high 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting, seemingly getting into the lane and finishing at will. Taylor chipped in eight points and helped the Spiders control the paint, outscoring the Golden Gophers 20-14 inside for the half.
The Spiders let a late second half lead slip away on night where Chris Mooney was going for his 150th as a head coach. Minnesota first-year coach Richard Pitino, son of Louisville's Rick Pitino, keeps his team undefeated for the season.
The Golden Gophers will host Coastal Carolina 7 p.m. Nov. 19 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Spiders will return home on the same night to face Hofstra before going on its first road trip of the season.
