Men's Basketball

Following the Gophers’ road win over Florida State on Tuesday, Andre Hollins tweeted about returning to Minnesota to “catch up on class work and get some rest finally.”

Hollins’ extended Thanksgiving break from the classroom was a business trip, but he should be able to rest fine knowing his next day at the office is against North Florida.

No. 21 Minnesota (7-1) plays the Ospreys (2-4) on Saturday in its first game back from a four-game road trip.

Joe Coleman has said anyone could be a scorer for the Gophers this season — that’s how much talent they have.

No. 21 Minnesota, led by Coleman’s 16 points and six rebounds, handled Florida State 77-68 on Tuesday in a game in which Gophers never trailed.

Behind four double-digit scorers, Minnesota (7-1) finished its four-game road trip with a 3-1 record, losing only to No. 2 Duke.

The Gophers shot out to a 7-0 lead before FSU could get on the board, and the Seminoles’ struggles continued after that.

The newly ranked No. 21 Gophers will wrap up a week-long road trip Tuesday at Florida State in the annual Big Ten/Atlantic Coast Conference Challenge.

The Seminoles are the Gophers’ fourth opponent away from home in six days. Minnesota finished 2-1 at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving break.

“We’d rather not to go to any of those places, to be honest with you,” head coach Tubby Smith said after practice last week, “but that’s how it fell.”

When opportunity knocked at the Gophers’ door, Andre Hollins answered it with a smile.

The sophomore point guard scored 61 points in three games — including 41 against his hometown team, Memphis — to lead the Gophers men’s basketball team to a fifth-place finish in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

Minnesota lost to eventual Atlantis champion and fifth-ranked Duke 89-71 in the opening round Thursday, but it rebounded Friday by upsetting No. 19 Memphis 84-75.

After months of listening to naysayers and fighting controversy, head men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith has a chance to put Gophers basketball on the map on Thanksgiving Day.

Minnesota (4-0) beat up on cupcake opponents at home to start the season. This week, it travels to the Bahamas to play three tougher opponents — including No. 5 Duke — in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

The Gophers and Blue Devils will meet Thursday in the tournament’s opening round.

If the Gophers needed a dose of reality before playing behemoth Duke on Thanksgiving Day, they got one.

The undefeated Gophers beat Richmond 72-57 at Williams Arena on Sunday in the team’s toughest test yet.

The Gophers trailed by seven with 10 minutes left in the game as Richmond kept it competitive in front of an announced crowd of 11,341.

But Minnesota and point guard Andre Hollins proved to be too much for the Spiders. The Gophers closed the game on a 30-8 run.