NCAA Game Summary - Saint Mary's-CA at Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Joey King led a spirited comeback as he tallied 18 points during Minnesota's 63-55 win over the Gaels of Saint Mary's in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at Williams Arena.

DeAndre Mathieu added 14 points for the Golden Gophers (22-13), followed by Austin Hollins with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. Elliott Eliason, who failed to attempt even a single field goal, contributed eight rebounds and seven blocked shots for the hosts.

Stephen Holt led the way for the Gaels (23-12) with a game-high 24 points, shooting 6-of-15 from the field and 9-of-11 at the free-throw line, but no one else on the SMC roster reached double figures.

The Gaels opened the meeting on an 14-0 run and appeared to be well on their way to a favorable outcome, although they ended up shooting just 40 percent from the field and 6-of-11 at the free-throw line in the period.

It wasn't until the 13:10 mark in the first half that the Gophers finally scored their first points of the afternoon, having started the meeting 0-of-7 from the floor. Despite the weak start, Minnesota trailed by just four at the break, 26-22.

The visitors repeated their field goal shooting performance from the first half over the final 20 minutes, sinking just eight baskets as the Gophers used 6-of-10 shooting on the perimeter and 15-of-18 at the charity stripe to secure the victory.

The Gaels connected on an impressive 7-of-14 from 3-point range on the day, but ended up with almost as many turnovers (15) as made field goals (16) overall.

Minnesota now heads to the quarterfinals of the tournament where it will meet up against a Southern Miss squad that defeated Missouri, 71-63.