One key difference between the Gophers’ 0-6 start to Big Ten play and its 2-0 resurgence since is how new transfers have stepped up.
In the 84-81 home upset of then-No. 20 Michigan on Jan. 16, Ly’Cye Patterson provided a scoring boost with a season-high 22 points. Then, in the 72-67 victory at Iowa on Tuesday, Femi Odukale provided a jolt with a season-high 18 points and team-high eight rebounds, while Frank Mitchell contributed eight points — including two clutch free throws — and six rebounds.
During the brutal start to conference play, those types of performances were few and far between, and the losses stacked up.
With some of their seven newcomers now making a difference, Minnesota produced its first ranked win in head coach Ben Johnson’s three-plus seasons, and the U won in Iowa City for the first time since 2015.
The Gophers (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten) will again need more of their newer role players in order to pull off another upset against 15th-ranked Oregon (16-3, 5-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday at The Barn. The Ducks are 4-0 on the road in conference play.
“That’s a big part of it,” Johnson said about transfers’ impact on recent wins. “Getting them caught up in just what we are doing at a high level with confidence, I think, is the biggest factor.”
Johnson appreciates Odukale’s versatility and Mitchell’s physicality, but Odukale can be erratic and Mitchell a defensive liability. Mitchell, in particular, struggled in implementing pick-and-roll coverages in the first half of the year, but that has changed.
“He’s really picked it up,” Johnson said. “Some if it, too, is there is less thinking now. The more reps you get under your belt. I got to remind myself the dude has only been playing basketball since the pandemic, so we are throwing so much at him.”
Mitchell’s contributions against the Hawkeyes were refreshing because the Canisius transfer had been taken out of the starting lineup nine games ago in favor of veteran Parker Fox.
“So much of this is a confidence factor to playing in this league and to playing college basketball,” Fox said. “If you don’t have that confidence, you are already screwed over. I think for (Mitchell) to come in and puff his chest out, keep his head up and be able to do what he can do.”
Johnson said Mitchell is playing with more freedom and that is seen in him rebounding at a higher rate and getting instinctive tip-ins on the offensive end.
“It comes down to the coaches: they believe in me every day,” Mitchell said. “Some days I come into the gym and I’m not working as hard as I should be, but all credit to the coaches and the team to keep believing in me, keep encouraging me and telling me who I am.”
Fellow U transfer big man Trey Edmonds of Texas-San Antonio has not risen above being a bit player, and Minnesota sure could use more from the 6-foot-10 post against Oregon 7-footer Nathan Bittle, who is averaging team highs of 13.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game going into Saturday.
Briefly
Transfer guard Tyler Cochran did conditioning drills before Friday’s practice, but has still not joined in full practices. The Toledo addition was projected to return from preseason foot surgery December, but on Friday Johnson had no revised timeline on Cochran. … The Ducks are 23rd in the NET ranking, while Minnesota’s spurt has them up from 137 to 104. … After Oregon and No. 8 Michigan State, which is 7-0 in Big Ten play, on Tuesday, the U has only two ranked opponents in the second half of its conference slate.
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