Franklin Pierce is a Division II team -- and not a very good one at that --so assume Minnesota was playing the equivalent of a bunch of pretty good high schoolers.

It certainly looked like it.

But there were two basic tasks the Gophers needed to check off tonight:

a) Make it through 40 minutes without any injuries
b) Dominate

Minnesota managed both of those quite well (scoring the most points the program has since 1990 in the 109-57 win) and now the biggest chore will be carrying the intensity through to Saturday's matchup vs. UMBC -- the Gophers' third game in five days.

You can read my observations about this team, three games in, here, and it will be in tomorrow's Star Tribune.

A few others:

*Meaningful minutes for the bench. For the first two games, freshmen Bakary Konate and Josh Martin have combined for just 22 minutes total. Thursday, they got 37 minutes between them. That at least gives the pair a foundation of some experience (and positive experience) to draw back on if the Gophers get into a bind and need to use them more than hoped. "Huge," coach Richard Pitino said. "It's important for those guys because we're going to need them."

*This defense looks respectable. After a rough going in Pitino's first season at Minnesota (the Gophers were last in the league in defensive efficiency), it would have been tough for the team to get worse. But in the last two games, we've seen the Gophers press teams efficiently and rack up the steals -- something they couldn't even do against bad teams last year.

*Carlos Morris was less of a chucker. And he had a great game. Funny how that works. The wing went a very efficient 5-for-9 from the field while adding four steals, three assists and three rebounds. "Every shot he took was good and that's why he played a good game," Pitino said.

*Rough road ahead. After Saturday's game brings two in Madison Square Garden -- including a potential matchup against No. 13 Gonzaga, a squad who held St. Joe's to just 10 points in the first half on Wednesday night. Minnesota returns only for the weekend before heading to Wake Forest for the Gophers' first true road game. "We've got a tough week and a half coming up," Pitino said. "Hopefully we're not tired."