Gophers Play It Straight in Exhibition Win over Southwest Minnesota State
October 29, 2019
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino admitted his team was “vanilla offensively” in a 73-48 win over the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs. “We didn’t run anything. We have Oklahoma, Butler, and Utah coming up. I don’t want to show everything now.”
What Pitino and about 7,000 fans at Williams Arena got a look at were new players, the Gophers having lost three starters from last year: Jordan Murphy, Amir Coffey, and Dupree McBrayer. In their place were Alihan Demir, Marcus Carr, and Payton Willis, who joined Daniel Oturu and Gabe Kalscheur in the starting lineup.
Oturu had the biggest night, scoring 12 points with 16 rebounds (8 offensive). The loss of Murphy’s rebounding prowess will put more on Oturu, and, when asked, Pitino said they were going to need consistent double-double’s out of the 6-10 sophomore. The coach knows this will require extensive minutes from Oturu (who played 26 minutes against the Mustangs), and Pitino said he pulled him twice in the second half when he could see he was winded. “He’ll need to be in shape, which isn’t always easy for a big man to do.”
By keeping their offensive plays hidden from future opponents, the Gophers relied on three-point shooting, making 8 of 21 long-range shots. Pitino was satisfied that they were good shots, only eight of them being challenged. “Our goal on challenged shots is no more than one in a game.”
Minnesota didn’t make its goal of allowing no more than 11 offensive rebounds; Southwest Minnesota State had 12, and the Mustangs had a 22-16 rebounding edge in the first half. The Gophers did better in the second half—Oturu getting 10 of his 16 then—the teams finished even at 42-42 on the boards.
Minnesota had only 8 turnovers in the game. The Mustangs had nearly double that total, 15, in the first half and finished with 22. The Gophers, with active hands, deflected passes and turned them into 11 steals in the game, Oturu leading the team with 3.
The Gophers had 19 assists on their 27 field goals, with Willis and Carr each getting 6. The downside of the game for Minnesota came at the line, making only 6 of 14 free throws. In addition, the Gophers missed the front-end of a one-and-one four times (three by Oturu). Oturu drew eight fouls in the game, a total likely to rise unless he does better with his free throws; overall, he was 2 for 6 from the line.
Kenny Byers of the Mustangs led all scorers with 15 points. Grant Kramer, with 10, was the other player in double figures. For Minnesota, Willis had 14 points, Carr and Oturu 12, and Kalscheur 11.
The Gophers have more than a week off before their regular-season opener, against Cleveland. They then play Oklahoma in Sioux Falls before going to Butler and Utah.