Ben Johnson was only a few months on the job when he saw basically the entire Gophers men’s basketball roster hit the transfer portal.
Johnson has been playing catchup ever since, but he might finally have the depth to play the way he wants — much faster than in years past.
To open the third season under Johnson, the Gophers showed off an up-tempo and attacking style around Dawson Garcia that led to Monday’s 80-60 season-opening victory against Bethune-Cookman at Williams Arena.
The Gophers, who had eight different players score in the game, were led by Garcia’s 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. They seemed a bit out of control at times and committed 17 turnovers. But this wasn’t the same team that often had players standing and watching Garcia post up last season.
That used to be typical of the Gophers offense but not Monday.
Transfers Elijah Hawkins and Mike Mitchell Jr. got the Gophers moving the ball and running at every opportunity. Garcia had help in the frontcourt with center Pharrel Payne and forwards Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen, who played after missing two years because of knee injuries.
The Gophers held the Wildcats to 18% shooting (7-for-40 from the field) in the first half playing an aggressive style, but they had a 27-point lead cut to 10 points in the second half.
The crowd-pleasing dunks early included sophomore Joshua Ola-Joseph catching an alley-oop pass from Garcia. But the easy baskets didn’t come as frequently after Bethune-Cookman forced the Gophers to take care of the ball. Turnovers would make the game closer than it should’ve been.
After spreading the ball around for most of the night, Johnson also made an adjustment to get the ball inside. Earlier in the half, Bethune-Cookman cut the lead to a 13-point deficit but baskets from Fox, Ihnen and Garcia stretched the margin back out to 62-41 with 9:06 to play.
Gophers fans seemed concerned when Zion Harmon’s layup made it 64-54 with 5:03 remaining, but Garcia responded a minute later with five consecutive points and a nifty pass to Braeden Carrington for a dunk with 1:41 to play. Carrington, who finished with 13 points, converted a three-point play for a 76-58 advantage.
In the first half, Fox’s first basket with the Gophers came running the floor after the ball zipped up the court following a defensive rebound. That was one of 10 fast-break points in the first half.
Ihnen displayed his versatility creating a couple of transition baskets off back-to-back steals. He first led the break and connected with Garcia for a layup. On another sequence, he kept the ball going the length of the court to score after forcing a turnover.
Garcia had no problems sharing the basketball and finding teammates from the perimeter or the high post, but the Gophers’ scoring balance will be something to watch moving forward.
Freshman Cameron Christie missed the game because of an illness. But Payne, who also missed the exhibition last week against Macalester, returned from a minor injury to start at center.