MINNEAPOLIS -- Richard Pitino called his teams 37-point win over Georgia Southern a major step forward, but not because of the point total. It was more how his players shared the ball against their overmatched nonconference opponents.Dupree McBrayer scored 18 points and Akeem Springs added 16 off the bench to lead the Gophers over Georgia Southern 86-49 on Friday night for their third straight win.Minnesota (9-1) had 23 assists and 12 3-pointers -- both season highs, and Pitino said his players were passing up good shots for great ones. And with three more games before the Big Ten portion of Minnesotas schedule starts, the Gophers got back on track after barely surviving against New Jersey Institute of Technology earlier in the week.He sat us down and told us we need to improve, Nate Mason said of the NJIT scare. Mason finished with 14 points and nine assists. Obviously we disrespected each other, not even him, but just each other. Didnt go out there and play for each other as hard as we possibly could. So we sat the guys down had a team meeting and said, `Weve got to come in and work the next day.Minnesota used an early second-half run to put the Eagles away after letting them hang around earlier. The Gophers built an 18-point lead midway through the first half before failing to score a field goal in the final five minutes of the half.But they took advantage of their speed and size to start the second, scoring 12 of their first 16 points of the half on dunks and fast breaks.I keep telling the guys: defend, rebound and run, Pitino said. Thats always kind of been my mentality with these guys. They did it, and I think the sharing of the ball, you could tell it was contagious.The Eagles (4-5), whove still never beaten a Big Ten team in school history, couldnt recover and lost their second straight after winning three in a row.Im embarrassed, Eagles coach Mark Byington said. We have some prideful guys in the locker room too, and theyre embarrassed too. Thats not what were all about and we didnt show up tonight.Ike Smith led Georgia Southern with 12 points and Jake Allsmiller added 11.Springs went 4 for 8 from 3-point range for Minnesota. He keyed an early 14-5 run with 11 points in three minutes to stretch Minnesotas first-half lead to 34-16. The Gophers slowed down after that, though, and didnt have a field goal in the final 5:09 of the first. The Eagles outscored Minnesota 16-11 to end the first and trailed 45-32 at halftime.BIG PICTUREGeorgia Southern: Playing against Minnesotas bigger and stronger players, the Eagles got only 16 combined points from backcourt duo Smith and Tookie Brown, who entered the game averaging nearly 36 points between them.Minnesota: The Gophers regained some momentum after narrowly surviving by six points against NJIT on Tuesday.ROAD WORRIESGeorgia Southern has three more road games in a brutal stretch to start the season, in which the Eagles play two of their first 12 games on their home court. Right now, we just lack some things, Byington said. Its on me. Its bad preparation. Its bad scheduling. The one thing weve got to do, as Ive told the guys, the only thing theyve got to worry about, is sticking together.HURTING FOR MINUTESMichael Hurt finished with seven points in six minutes, including his first-ever 3-pointer. Pitino praised the freshmans work ethic. They think if you work hard youre supposed to play, thats not always the case. My goal is to win the game, thats it. When youre able to reward guys like that to play, its really good.UP NEXTGeorgia Southern: Gets a rematch on Tuesday at Florida Gulf Coast, the team that snapped the Eagles three-game winning streak 85-82 last weekend.Minnesota: Continues its nonconference schedule when the Gophers host another 4-4 team, Northern Illinois, on Sunday.Hurricanes Jerseys China . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Stitched Hurricanes Jerseys .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Carolina Hurricanes Store . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge.PHILADELPHIA -- The Atlanta Braves could have played another hour against the Philadelphia Phillies and they might not have solved Zach Eflin.Eflin struck out six and walked none in his first career complete game and first major-league win, leading the Phillies to a 5-1 victory over Atlanta on Tuesday night.Eflin, a first-round pick in the 2012 draft by the San Diego Padres, needed just 2 hours, 8 minutes to win for the first time this season in five starts.The less pitches the better, he said, smiling.Eflin stood on the mound shaking from excitement as the final pitch of the game was squeezed for the third out. Philadelphias rookie right-hander simply breezed past the Braves.I was just out there with loads of confidence, Eflin said.Eflin, acquired in a 2014 trade that sent Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowed three homers and nine runs in 2 2/3 innings in his June 14 debut against Toronto.He lost his next start, then rebounded with no-decisions in two straight solid six-inning outings.Eflin certainly found his groove against Atlanta. He threw just 92 crisp pitches and breezed against the hapless Braves in his longest outing of the season in any level of baseball. He became the first Phillies pitcher since Mike Williams in July 1992 to toss a complete game for his first win and hes the first Phillies rookie to throw a complete game since Vance Worley in July 2011.Its something you cant really describe, just being around these guys, Eflin said.Eflin went deep in the game and the Phillies went deep at the plate.Maikel Franco homered for the third straight game, and the Phillies hit four overall. Peter Bourjos, Cody Asche and Tommy Joseph all hit solo shots for the Phillies.Eflin had some help from a generally punchless offense that has shown signs of coming around headed into the All-Star break. The Phillies have scored at least seven runs in three straight games and have won seven of eight overall.I think everybody puts together good at-bats and that puts pressure on the pitcher to make his pitches, Bourjos said. He threw some pitches over the plate and we hit some home runs.Simple enouggh.dddddddddddd.Bourjos extended his hitting streak to 14 games and opened the home run derby with his fourth of the season in the first inning against Mike Foltynewicz (2-3). Asche hit his fourth in the fourth and Franco (16) and Joseph (9) both went deep in the sixth.Foltynewicz struck out five and gave up eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.When I had two strikes, I got amped up a little and started to overthrow, he said.TRAINERS ROOMBraves: RHP Julio Teheran was scratched from Wednesdays start in the three-game series finale for Tyrell Jenkins. Teheran returned to Atlanta to be treated for an infection on his right thigh. The Braves are hopeful Teheran will start this weekend in a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox.Phillies: RHP Andrew Bailey is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. ... LHP Daniel Stumpf has had his rehab assignment transferred to Lehigh Valley.HOT STREAKBoujos is the first Phillie to hit in 14 straight games since Rollins had a 15-game streak in 2014. ... Franco is the first Phillie to homer in three straight games since Darin Ruf in 2013 and the first to have an RBI in five straight games since Ryan Howard in July 2015.HOT-LANTABraves reliever Dario Alvarez struck out four in 1 1/3 innings and has struck out 19 of the 35 batters he has faced this season. Hes averaging 18.41 strikeouts per nine innings pitched (15 SO/7.1).ALL-STARSBraves: Teheran is just 3-7 but was named to the NL All-Star team for the second time. He was the lone Brave selected.Phillies: CF Odubel Herrera was the only Phillie named to the NL All-Star team. He entered ranked first in four-hit games with three and had two separate hitting streaks of at least 10 games.Herrera, batting .302, said through an interpreter he was proud to represent the Phillies and burst into laughter when he was good-naturedly asked about participating in the home run derby. He has 10 homers.UP NEXTJenkins (0-1, 5.79 ERA) goes against Phillies RHP Jeremy Hellickson (6-6, 4-06). ' ' '