Lu'Cye Patterson, Frank Mitchell spark Gophers comeback win over Southern Cal

The Gophers traveled west for their first matchup against Southern Cal as Big Ten foes on Saturday afternoon. Career nights from Lu'Cye Patterson and Frank Mitchell led the Gophers to a 69-66 win.

USC leaned on its home-court advantage, quickly jumping out an 8-0 lead. It took the Gophers 4:11 to get on the board and they were playing from behind for the rest of the half. Despite 10 first-half points off the bench from Isaac Asuma, the Trojans carried a 38-29 leading into the locker room.

Minnesota had every opportunity to pack things in and give up, but it held its own for much of the night and kept fighting. Mitchell provided some much-needed energy on the glass and the Gophers were able to cut Southern Cal's lead to five heading into the under-12 media timeout.

Patterson put together one of his best performances of the season and he pulled the Gophers all the way back to take their first lead of the game with 7:16 to go. An 11-13 night from the free throw line for Patterson helped Minnesota close a tightly contested game and win 69-66, as they finished the night on an 8-0 run.