Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Wofford Falls At Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS -- Howard Wilkerson had a career-high 20 points in Wofford's 82-70 loss at Minnesota before a crowd of 11,504 this afternoon at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Terriers were playing the fourth of six consecutive road games and just their second-ever contest against a Big 10 opponent. Wofford's non-conference schedule this season has already included three games against teams (Texas, Vanderbilt, Dayton) who are either currently ranked or have been in the Top 25 this season. The Terriers have also played at Tennessee and Clemson.

Wilkerson equaled his career-high of 14 points in the first half as the Terriers built a 37-34 lead at the intermission. The sophomore from Eden, N.C., was 8-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-2 on 3-pointers. He is now shooting 70.8 percent (24-of-34) over the last four contests.

Kris Humphries, a Duke signee who was released from his scholarship in July to enroll at Minnesota , led the Golden Gophers with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots. The 6-foot-9, 236-pound freshman has now scored at least 20 points in six straight games. Earlier this season, he became the first freshman in Big 10 history to receive league Player of the Week honors twice in the opening three weeks of the season.

Humphries had a game-best 11 rebounds in posting his Big 10-leading eighth double-double of the season.

Humphries and Ben Johnson each scored five points as the Golden Gophers (7-4) opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 44-37 lead.

Minnesota built its lead to as large as 14 points, 67-53, with 6:08 remaining before Wofford rallied to stay in the game.

In the span of 28 seconds, Greg Taylor hit a 3-pointer and then recorded a steal and layup to bring the Terriers within 67-58.

Taylor, who hit three 3-pointers in the game, scored 10 points in the second half. His 13 points in the game equaled a season-high that he set in the previous contest at Dayton .

A Tyler Berg 3-point play with 3:59 left closed the Terrier deficit to 70-63. It was part of his nine second-half points. He finished the game with 11 points and three blocked shots.

The Terriers still trailed just 72-65 with 3:06 to play after a Wilkerson layup. However, the Golden Gophers scored the next five points in holding on for the victory.

"I was impressed by our team today and Howard Wilkerson was superb," Wofford coach Mike Young said. "We were up three at the half and expected to be there.

"We just didn't start the second half with the enthusiasm and hustle like we had in the first half. Our response wasn't good enough and we had a hard time guarding Kris Humphries, who is a great player and will be in the NBA.

"We made it through another tough non-conference slate."

Wofford shot 48.2 percent from the field, including 52.0 in the first half.

After shooting 33.3 percent in the opening 20 minutes, the Golden Gophers hit 56.7 percent of their shots in the second half to finish at 45.6. Minnesota held a 39-24 rebounding edge, including 14-6 on the offensive end.

Adam Boone, a transfer from North Carolina , had eight assists from the point guard spot for Minnesota while Johnson and Maurice Hargrow each scored 19 points.

The Terriers (3-8, 0-1) return to SoCon play Wednesday when they travel to Georgia Southern for a 7:30 p.m. contest.