The High Point University men's basketball team got a career high performance from freshman Steadman Short and played 23rd-ranked Minnesota even for the second half in an 82-56 defeat on Sunday night at historic Williams Arena.
The Panthers (4-8) battled the Golden Gophers (12-0) to a 33-33 draw over the final 20 minutes of the game. The game marked HPU's first television appearance of the season as it was broadcast on ESPNU. It also was High Point's ninth time to play a nationally-ranked opponent in its decade as a Division I program.
Short reached double-digits for the first time in his collegiate career finishing with 13 points while also pulling down a team-best seven rebounds. Junior Eugene Harris led the Panthers with 18 points including 13 in the second half.
Ralph Sampson III led a group of five Gophers players in double-digits scoring 17 points on the night.
"We played decent basketball for 32 minutes of the game," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "Give Minnesota credit for taking advantage of our lapse in intensity. We are still learning to play 40 minutes. I do feel like we are getting better and that is something we can build on as we move forward. I thought we played much more solid in the second half. I feel like Steadman really stepped up tonight and competed on both ends of the floor."
Minnesota, coached by HPU alumni Tubby Smith, used a hot-shooting first half performance to gain the edge in the contest. The Gophers hit a season-high 11 three-pointers in the game including eight in the first half, after having a single game best of just nine coming into the contest.
The Panthers and Gophers played a closely contested game through the opening 10 minutes of play. A putback from Short at the 10:12 mark made High Point's deficit only three points, 18-15. From that point, Minnesota outscored High Point 31-8 through the rest of the period as the Panthers struggled to find consistency on the offensive end. The Gophers opened the surge with a 12-1 run before capping the rally with a 19-3 run in the final four minutes.
Minnesota held a 49-23 halftime advantage after shooting 57 percent (8 of 14) from beyond the arc in the opening half.
Harris sparked HPU to start the second half by drilling a pair of treys en route to scoring 10 points in the first four minutes of the period. The Panthers used the rally to cut into the Minnesota margin but were not able to make up the full deficit surrendered in the first half.
The Panthers will now continue their current three-game road swing with a return to Big South Conference play at Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 4:30 p.m.
