Senior forward Joey King led Minnesota with 22 points, and the Golden Gophers took control early in the second half Friday night to earn a 76-58 season-opening victory over visiting UMKC in Minneapolis.

The Golden Gophers (1-0) trailed early, and the Kangaroos led 20-11 after Martez Harrison hit a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play in the opening half, but a 14-2 run over less than four minutes gave Minnesota the lead.

Minnesota led 32-30 at halftime, then began the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to go up by eight. A LaVell Boyd three-pointer cut the UMKC (0-1) deficit to 40-37, but Minnesota responded with a 9-2 run to go back up by 10.

The Kangaroos never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

While the Golden Gophers are a young team, it was the veterans who did most of the damage in the opener. In addition to King, fellow senior Carlos Morris finished with 13 points. Sophomore Nate Mason had 11 points and seven assists.

Minnesota finished with 20 assists on its 25 baskets.

Boyd led all scorers with 25 points for UMKC, coming off the bench to knock down 7-of-10 attempts from beyond the arc.