1 week Ago By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press
Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson brought it up unprompted at the beginning of this season. Near this early juncture last year, point guard Elijah Hawkins was benched during nonconference play before coming on strong in Big Ten play. On Tuesday, Johnson went away from starting senior guard Lu’Cye Patterson in favor of true freshman Isaac Asuma down the stretch.
With veteran starting guard Mike Mitchell out with an ankle injury, Asuma ran the point and chipped in 10 points in 30 minutes as Minnesota beat Cleveland State 58-49 at Williams Arena. Minnesota (4-1) was a 14-point favorite and buckled down defensively, not allowing Cleveland State (3-2) to score in the final four minutes. The point total allowed was the fewest Minnesota has given up since 47 to Jacksonville in 2021.
The Gophers came into Saturday with the lowest scoring offense in the Big Ten at 64.5 points per game, but the second-highest scoring defense in the conference at 57.8.
Both numbers were further entrenched Tuesday. Johnson didn’t sub for the final 15 minutes, going with Asuma, Femi Odukale, Brennan Rigsby, Dawson Garcia and Parker Fox. “We weren’t able to get a rhythm and weren’t able to impose our will,” Johnson said.
“In games like that, I’m going to go with the crew that I think has got it going. And that group did. It could be somebody else in different games, so it was nothing more, nothing less than that.
I just thought on both sides of the ball, there was something to them.” Asuma looked more comfortable on the floor in his fifth collegiate game than a couple of fifth-year senior transfers in Patterson and Odukale. Patterson played only 16 minutes, missing all five of his shots.
Odukale also struggled from the field, going 1 for 7, along with six turnovers. But he stayed on the court due to rebounding and defense. He finished with 12 rebounds and three steals in 34 minutes.
Fox tallied 18 points, the most he has scored in maroon and gold. The Mahtomedi native put up 16 against IUPUI last December. His energy plays were essential in a sluggish first half.
In the last three games, the Gophers trailed Omaha by three, North Texas by nine and Yale by 10 at the half, but Fox kept that from happening for a fourth straight nonconference game. Not a long-range shooter, Fox was left unguarded but hit a deep, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put Minnesota up 31-29 at the break. While the half ended with positivity, the majority included long droughts and slogs.
Minnesota missed its first five shots in the opening three minutes and had another four-minute drought with more turnovers than buckets. Rigsby stepped up in lieu of Mitchell in the first half with 10 points, fueled by a pair of triples. Garcia, who is averaging 25 points per game, was limited to six on 1-of-3 shooting in the first half.
They each finished with 13 points. But in setting young career highs across the board, it was Asuma who started to show why he was a coveted prospect coming out of northeastern Minnesota in last year’s recruiting class. “It’s no surprise for me; I saw it right when he came in (in June),” Fox said.
“I told people over the summer. It might not be today, but eventually he’s going to be a guy that we need to win basketball games. “I just think (it’s) his composure.
He doesn’t do anything outside of who he is. He handles the ball at a really high level. He makes free throws when he needs to make free throws.
He gets into the lane and makes the right play. And he runs to coaching. .
.. This isn’t Cherry, Minn.
, anymore. This is not the Iron Range. I think he appreciates that, and he wants more.
”.
