s while pitching around baserunners in all six innings, and six Arizona reliev

MINNEAPOLIS -- After losing more games last season than any other team in the 121-year history of Minnesotas program, the Gophers have played like a totally different group.Thats because they are, for the most part.Amir Coffey scored all 19 of his points in the second half, after Akeem Springs made three 3-pointers over the final 5 minutes of the first half to finish with 11 points and help Minnesota pull away for an 85-71 victory over Arkansas on Tuesday night.They should be confident. Theyve worked hard, coach Richard Pitino said. Theyve stayed humble throughout a tough offseason, and theyve just been eager to get back to proving themselves on and off the court.Nate Mason had 13 points and seven assists, Eric Curry added 12 points and Reggie Lynch and Jordan Murphy each added 10 points for the Gophers (5-0), who won their first five games to start a season for the first time in three years. With transfers Springs and Lynch and freshmen Coffey and Curry, theres a new look and some new life to this team after a miserable 8-23 finish.What the team went through last year, I think that matured everyone, Springs said.Dusty Hannahs scored 20 points and Moses Kingsley had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Razorbacks (3-1), whose first road trip of the season was rough. They didnt make a 3-pointer until Hannahs hit one at the 4-minute mark and finished 1 for 8 after entering the game 24 for 54 from behind the arc (44.9 percent).Their 21 turnovers were their most since March 21, 2015, an NCAA tournament loss to North Carolina, and they had only six fast-break points after tallying 51 over the first three games. The Gophers had a 26-9 edge in points off turnovers.Weve just been being really sloppy, Hannahs said. It hasnt been like this is a random occurrence.The Gophers started slowly, but the Razorbacks missed nine of their first 10 shots from the floor and were outscored 25-6 over a stretch of more than 10 minutes. Springs swished two more 3-pointers after that run in the closing minutes of the first half, and the Gophers led by at least 14 points for the rest of the game.COFFEY BREAKThe freshman Coffey had 30 points on Friday against St. Johns and after a quiet first half got the crowd going with an array of fast-break dunks and slick layups plus a 3-pointer that gave the Gophers a 67-46 lead to match their largest of the game.Everybody knew he was struggling, so everybody kept going to him and encouraging him, Mason said. That shows the unselfishness for our team.CURRYING FAVORCurry, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, who was recruited by the Razorbacks, went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line.HEY, WE PLAYED THEM TOOBoth Arkansas and Minnesota have already beaten Texas-Arlington, the team picked to win the Sun Belt Conference in a preseason coaches poll. The Gophers beat the Mavericks 84-67 on Nov. 14, and the Razorbacks edged UTA 71-67 on Friday.BIG PICTUREArkansas: A team picked to finish fifth in the preseason SEC media poll that tapped Kingsley as the player of the year, the Razorbacks must make some significant improvements to be competitive in a Dec. 17 game against No. 22 Texas. With an influx of junior-college transfers, chemistry is a work in progress.Theyre still learning how to play with one another, coach Mike Anderson said.Minnesota: After finishing as the third-worst team in the Big Ten in defense last season, with the second-highest percentage of 3-pointers allowed, the Gophers have been markedly better, beginning with the fundamentals of cutting off baseline drives and rotating over to help. Lynchs shot-blocking presence is a big boost too.Once youre getting stops, it makes the game a little bit easier for everyone, Springs said.UP NEXTArkansas returns home on Monday to host Mount St. Marys, the first of five straight home games.Minnesota hosts Southern Illinois on Friday, before the first road game on Monday at Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.---For more college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 Jerome Walton Jersey . 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PHOENIX -- Arizona manager Chip Hale used a team meeting Thursday to stress a return to relentless baseball, and the Diamondbacks 12-inning victory on Saturday night was exactly what he was looking for.Just let it fly, he said Thursday.The Dodgers, on the other hand, thought they let one slip away Saturday.When Brandon Drury singled through a five-man infield with the bases loaded to drive in the winning run in a 2-1 win, it capped a game in which the Diamondbacks combined strong starting pitching, timely hitting and shutout work from their bullpen.We talked about going into the second half playing winning baseball and the wins and loses will take care of themselves, Hale said. That was a prime example. Clutch hitting when we needed it. We got a great start from Archie (Bradley). He really battled and did a great job of getting us through six innings and the bullpen was fantastic.Jake Lamb tied the score at 1 with a two-out, opposite-field double in the ninth inning off closer Kenley Jansen. Lamb had been 0-for-7 against Jansen in his career.Drury followed with the hit that helped Arizona (39-53) break a five-game losing streak and set up the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday when Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray will face Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda.It was Drurys first hit with the bases loaded in five occurrences this season.The first time you are in that situation with the bases loaded, you sometimes can let it catch up to you, he said. Learning how to slow it down a little bit is huge. I was a still anxious, for sure, but I think I was able to control it a little better that I have in the past.Ray made a quality start against the Dodgers on April 14, giving up two runs in 6 1/3 innings, but did not get a decision. Maeda is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in two appearances against Arizona this year, although he has not made it through the sixth inning in either.ddddddddddddThe most important thing for us is just to reset and get it going, Hale said of the post-break season. Play the game like we know how to play it. Do the things you have to do.Situationally hit. Throw more strikes. Be able to concentrate late in an inning. Get signs. Different things that have been bugaboos for us right now. I feel like last year we were relentless. Just get back to that attitude.Bradley gave up one run in six innings while pitching around baserunners in all six innings, and six Arizona relievers gave up four hits in six scoreless innings. Randall Delgado got the victory when he got the only man he faced, Yasiel Puig, to ground out on a 3-1 pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th.After getting a sesaon-high 18 hits in a 13-7 victory in the series opener on Friday, the Dodgers had 10 more hits but left 15 runners on base. They were 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position, the only hit coming when Justin Turner drove in Chase Utley from second with a single in the third inning.They were unable to take advantage of a stellar outing from Brandon McCarthy, who gave up three hits and allowed only one runner past first base in six innings of his third start since returning from Tommy John surgery. He struck out nine, did not walk a batter and got to only two three-ball counts. He faced one batter over the minimum.That outing was exciting for all of us, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Unfortunately, we couldnt get him the win. We had opportunities. We just couldnt get that big hit. ' ' '