indoor hard court at Arena Zagreb. Cilic suddenly rediscovered his serving groo

MINNEAPOLIS -- Much is expected from Minnesotas Jordan Murphy this year.After struggles in the teams first two games, he was dominant Wednesday night.The sophomore scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds and the Gophers pulled away to beat Mount St. Marys 80-56.The Gophers, 3-0 for the first time in three years, also got 13 points each from Dupree McBrayer and Nate Mason.Minnesota, which shot 57.4 percent, also had a 46-25 rebounding edge.There was a lot of good, said Gophers coach Richard Pitino. Our post offense was really good; our passing out of the post was really good.A member of the Big 10 All-Freshman team last year, Murphy totaled 17 points on 5 of 17 shooting in wins over Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas-Arlington.Every time you step on the court its a new chance to see where youre at skill-wise . and just see how you can impact the game, said Murphy, who was 8 of 9 from the field.Sometimes he lets certain things zap his energy, whether hes confused by something or whatever, Pitino said. We just talked about playing through that is the most important thing.Junior Robinson scored 16 points to lead Mount St. Marys (0-3), which fell to 0-18 all-time against Big Ten teams. Elijah Long had 11 points and 5 rebounds.The Mountaineers were 7 of 27 on 3-pointers.This is the game where you got to make 14 to 15 threes. We are more than capable of doing that, but we are just coming up short right now and not having enough guys stepping in and knocking them down, said coach Jamion Christian.With Minnesota up 49-42, Murphy scored on a dunk, blocked a 3-pointer by Will Miller and scored on another dunk 5 seconds later. After a media timeout, he scored on a putback for a 13-point lead with 11:10 to play.Back-to-back 3-pointers by Akeem Springs pushed the lead to 19. He and Amir Coffey each finished with 10 points.We dont look at individually how we do, Mason said. Were just looking for the win.FREE THROW CONCERNSMinnesota was 14 of 23 from the free-throw line after shooting 72.2 percent in its first two games.Its early in the season I think feeling comfortable up there, Pitino said. Just got to be confident, stick to the routine.NOT GETTING TURNOVERSLast season, Mount St. Marys forced at least 17 turnovers in a game 18 times and 20 or more on eight occasions. In three games this season, the Mountaineers have forced an average of 12.3: West Virginia and Minnesota had 13 and Iowa State had 11.BIG PICTUREMount St. Marys: The Mountaineers live and die playing up-tempo, with an aggressive full-court pressure on defense and an offense that likes to shoot from beyond the arc. Mount St. Marys showed flashes on both ends, but needs to be more consistent, especially against teams with bigger post players.Minnesota: The Gophers, who went 8-23 last year, including home losses to mid-majors South Dakota, South Dakota State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, continue to advantageously use their depth. This was the third straight game at least five Gophers finished in double figures.UP NEXTMount St. Marys continues its season-opening nine-game road trip Friday at George Mason (1-1) of the Atlantic 10. Mount St. Marys has lost 14 straight non-conference road games.Minnesota is expected to have a tough test Friday when the Gophers welcome St. Johns as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. It will conclude a stretch of three games in five nights at home. The Red Storm (2-0) beat Binghamton 77-61 Monday.Jim Rice Jersey . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Sam Travis Red Sox Jersey . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. https://www.cheapredsox.com/2301z-heath-hembree-jersey-red-sox.html . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Roger Clemens Red Sox Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Jhoulys Chacin Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win.ZAGREB, Croatia -- In a battle of big servers, Argentinas Juan Martin Del Potro beat Croatias Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5 on Friday to leave the two teams tied at 1-1 following the opening singles matches in the Davis Cup final.Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion who is capping a comeback after two injury-hit years, made the crucial break in the 11th game of the fourth set with a spectacular return of Karlovics serve.Del Potro broke the Croat in the opening game of the match and then held on to his serve to take the opening set. In the second, the Argentine appeared poised to clinch the tie-break after having a double set point, but Karlovic saved both and then sent the home crowd into frenzy as he forced two successive errors from Del Potro.Del Potro cruised through the third set to get back into control.After losing the second set, I was a bit frightened, Del Potro said. Ivo was playing real well, but I managed to regain composure.Karlovic, who at 37 became the oldest man to play singles in a Davis Cup final in nearly a century, served 35 aces while Del Potro had 15.After winning the second set, I was hoping to continue like this, but my level went down a bit and his level went higher, said Karlovic who returned to the team after a four-year absence.Doubles are played Saturday while reverse singles are scheduled Sunday, with team captains refusing to reveal which pairs they will use.Croatian team captain Zeljko Krajan said he was satisfied with the result after the opening singles.Overall today I have to say Im satisfied, Krajan said. It was hard to believe that we could have two wins today. We remain positive and optimistic.Argentina is the only nation in the Davis Cups 1116-year history to have reached four finals without winning the title.dddddddddddd Croatia is targeting its second title after beating Slovakia in the final in 2005.Croatia won the opening singles rubber after Marin Cilic struggled past Argentinas Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2.Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, looked like cruising to the expected easy victory until Delbonis broke the Croat twice in the third set, which ended on a Cilic double fault.I struggled on my return, said Cilic, the highest-ranked player in the final at 6th position. His (high) toss on his serve is a bit specific and it gave me problems.I never said the match would be easy. After all, this is the final, Cilic said.Delbonis started the fourth set 3-0 with a double break, and Cilic conceded the set on serve by netting an easy smash.But after a bathroom beak, Cilic came back renewed and broke Delbonis to start the fifth set on the indoor hard court at Arena Zagreb. Cilic suddenly rediscovered his serving groove, and didnt give Delbonis a chance.I took a short break, talked to the coach, Cilic said. I was determined to start playing better.Cilic broke again in the seventh game, and served out after 3 1/2 hours, two hours longer than most expected.Cilic served 17 aces in the match watched by some 12,000 fans, including thousands of Argentinians who outshouted the home supporters. Among them was former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona.His serve was the key, Delbonis said. In the first two sets, he was serving unbelievably. When I started making some returns, things changed. ' ' '