If you had been told, preseason, that the Gophers would play non-conference team X and not one of Trevor Mbakwe, Ralph Sampson III or Rodney Williams would score more than six points, what chances would you give the Gophers at winning?
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Since the start of the season, and especially since Mbakwe went down for the season with an ACL tear, we’ve seen a number of players step up. Tonight was a great example of that, with four players scoring in double digits – none of them named Trevor, Ralph or Rodney – in the full-team 76-56 win over Central Michigan.
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Some notes from tonight:
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- Julian Welch has become a clear leader for the Gophers. Tonight, he led the team in points for the third time in the past five games and helped pace the team with his energy and spirit.
- Joe Coleman scored a season-high 12 points off the bench and hit his second three-pointer of the season.
- The Gophers hit 47.1 percent of their three-point shots, including two each from Maverick Ahanmisi and Austin Hollins, and one each from Andre Hollins, Welch, Coleman and Oto Osenieks.
- Ball handling is still a weakness for the Gophers, who had 18 turnovers tonight. But they largely made up for them by playing solid defense, and shooting 57.4 percent from the field when they had the ball.
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