Gophers hang tough, top Siena 76-69

Minnesota appeared to have no answer against the quick-hitting Siena Saints offense through much of the first half, but was able to turn the tables down the stretch to take home a thrilling 76-69 victory to improve to 2-0. Stymied by basket after basket from Siena’s Clarence Jackson, who scored a game high 29 points, the Gophers quickly found themselves down by 11 to a suddenly confident Saints team, who are no strangers to playing big-time programs tough.  While keeping Saints star Ryan Rossiter in check, Minnesota fell victim to back-door cuts and, quite simply, hot shooting in the first half. That’s not to say the Gophers were playing poorly.  Aside from horrific free throw shooting, going into halftime down by only one point seemed like a victory of sorts considering how potent the Saints offense was proving itself to be.  There seemed to be a feeling that the Gophers were waiting out uncharacteristically awesome play by Siena, and that by holding serve, their home-c...