The University of Minnesota men's basketball team earned an 87-80 double overtime win over Princeton tonight to win the inaugural Asheville Championship, in Asheville, N.C. With the win, the Golden Gophers went 2-0 in the tournament and are now 3-0 this season.

Payton Willis was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. At the end of regulation, Willis had 13 points, but he was unstoppable in the overtime periods. Willis combined for 16 of his career-high 29 points to propel the Gophers to the win and earn Asheville Championship MVP honors in the process. Willis recorded his first career point-rebound double-double, with the 29 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. For the game, he made 11-of-18 field goals (6-of-6 in the OTs), while adding three steals, two assists, and a career-best two blocked shots. Willis averaged 24 points in the two games in Asheville.

Jamison Battle finished with his first double-double of the season, as he had 24 points and 11 rebounds in 48 minutes. Sean Sutherlin came off the bench to play a key role for the Gophers, as he finished with 14 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes.

As a team, Minnesota shot 54 percent from the field. The Gophers were 34-of-63 and made four three-pointers. The Gophers also had 45 rebounds and five blocks. Princeton went 34-of-81 (42 percent), had six three pointers in 28 attempts and had 45 rebounds.

Minnesota took its first lead of the game at 7-6 with a jumper from Willis. The lead went back and forth, with Curry making a pair of layups around a Battle three-pointer, and the Gophers trailed 17-14 at the third media timeout. Minnesota still trailed by three, 30-27, with 3:46 left in the half, but Sutherlin keyed an 11-0 run with six points, as the Gophers took a 38-30 lead into the break. The Gophers also held Princeton scorelss for 3:46. Battle paced the Gophers with 14 points and four rebounds, while Sutherlin came off the bench for eight points, and Willis and Curry each had six points and four boards. Minnesota rebounded from the slow start to make 16-of-21 (.516) field goals, which means the Gophers made 14-of-19 (.737) after starting 2-of-12.

Willis, who hit a three for Minnesota's final points in the first half, scored the first seven points of the second half, as the Gophers stretched the lead to 45-34. Sutherlin continued his strong play, as he scored five points to reach double figures for the first time this season and keep the Gophers in front, 50-40. After baskets by Battle and Luke Loewe, Minnesota led by nine, 54-45. Princeton went on a 10-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to cut it to 56-53. Minnesota wound up scoring just three points over the final 7:08 of regulation, all from Stephens and a layup by the Tigers' Jaelin Llewellyn tied the score late and sent it to overtime. Willis took over in the overtime periods, as he connected on 6-of-6 field goals for 16 of his game-high 29 points to earn the victory for Minnesota. The Gophers made 5-of-6 (.833) field goals in each of the overtime periods.

Minnesota returns to action Friday night when it hosts Purdue Fort Wayne at 6 p.m.