Minnesota coach Ben Johnson believes his crew is heading in the right direction towards success.
Would Johnson and the Golden Gophers favor to have cleaner early-season victories towards nonconference opponents?
Sure, in fact.
However in line with the coach, the early bumps are all a part of a brand new roster coming collectively.
“The toughest half is all of us need it now,” Johnson mentioned. “However it’s simply such a piece in progress. We simply have to get recreation reps for guys to get snug.”
Minnesota (3-1) will get its subsequent repetition when it hosts Cleveland State (3-2) on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers will go for back-to-back wins after rallying for a 59-56 victory over visiting Yale on Saturday.
Cleveland State will goal for its third victory in a row. The Vikings beat Jap Michigan 71-63 of their most up-to-date recreation on Saturday, which adopted a 75-67 win at Valparaiso on Nov. 12.
Tevin Smith led Cleveland State with 24 factors and 7 rebounds towards Jap Michigan. He shot 7 of 13 from the sector, 2 of 5 from 3-point vary and eight of 11 from the free-throw line.
Smith is averaging 11.8 factors on 45.7 p.c taking pictures this season. Dylan Arnett leads the crew with averages of 13 factors and eight.2 rebounds per recreation whereas taking pictures 68.2 p.c from the sector.
Cleveland State received 20-plus video games in every of the earlier three seasons. They performed within the School Basketball Invitational match in every of the previous two seasons.
“Our guys which have performed, their expectation now’s to play within the postseason,” Vikings coach Daniyal Robinson mentioned. “They know what that seems like. That helps when the brand new guys are available in, they see the usual is ready.”
Minnesota is led by Dawson Garcia, who’s averaging 25.5 factors and seven.3 rebounds by way of the primary 4 video games of the season. Lu’Cye Patterson is subsequent on the scoring checklist with 8.5 factors per recreation, and Brennan Rigsby ranks third with 7.5 factors per contest.
Golden Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. has missed two video games in a row as a consequence of an ankle damage. His standing was unsure for Tuesday evening.
–Subject Stage Media
