Three games into the Gophers men's basketball team's 2014-15 season, fans have already seen a few extremes. Highs and lows. Blowouts on both ends. Electrifying dunks. Big games. Disappearing acts.
Do we know this team yet? Probably not, although next week's venture to New York's Madison Square Garden — where the Gophers will face two quality opponents, St. John's and either Gonzaga or Georgia — followed by a game at Wake Forest will probably go a long ways toward that discovery.
In the meantime, a tuneup vs. Division II Franklin Pierce on Thursday went about as smoothly as possible. A 23-0 first-half run had the Gophers cruising all the way to a 109-57 finish — a whooping fitting for the subpar opponent, albeit one that was up on St. John's at the break earlier this week. On deck is another potential mismatch, Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday — the Gophers' third game in five days.
"We've got a tough week and a half coming up," coach Richard Pitino said. "Hopefully we're not tired."
Six observations after a second consecutive rout:
1. Plenty to be impressed about if this wasn't against a D-II foe. As it is, every accomplishment comes with an asterisk. Still, the Gophers scored their most points in a game since a 114-34 victory over Alabama State on Dec. 23, 1996, a game that was later vacated. The Gophers snatched up 15 steals for the second game in a row. They hit 73.3 percent of their three-pointers. And they had 28 assists to 11 turnovers, a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
2. Freshman guard Nate Mason has been veteran-steady. "It doesn't matter who the opponent is," Carlos Morris said. "He's ready to go." The 6-foot-1 Georgia native hasn't looked the least bit intimidated by the next level, combining for 35 points and 14 rebounds in the first three games while making himself a pest on the defensive end.
3. Free throws have been an adventure. The word "free" is in the name; they are supposed to be gimmes. But that has been far from the case so far; the Gophers have failed to hit on more than 61 percent of their shots from the line in any of their three games. Thursday, they made 14 of 24, or 58.3 percent. "We're just rushing it," Daquein McNeil said. "We need to focus a lot more."
4. I felt a breeze. Charles Buggs — the sophomore reserve forward with eye-popping athleticism — got plenty of opportunities Thursday and made the most of them, finishing with eight points, including two that came from a Superman-like one-handed slam from the free-throw line. "He's super bouncy," DeAndre Mathieu said.
5. The great rebounding guards. As a whole, the effort on the boards hasn't been great, as the Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in defensive rebounds heading into Thursday. But a huge chunk of the rebounding has come from the backcourt, including 43 percent (53 of 123 rebounds overall) from the combination of Andre Hollins, Mathieu, McNeil and Mason. "We're definitely looking to find our identity, and that's a part of what we want to be: scrappy, rebounding," Mason said.
6. The pace has picked up substantially. Before the season, Pitino promised this team would be able to play that fast-paced style he craves better than last year's version. It's very early, but so far, the difference is obvious. "It feels really different," Mathieu said. "Last year we didn't really pressure the ball as much as we have." The Gophers played their fastest game since 2011 vs. Western Kentucky on Tuesday before lighting up the scoreboard Thursday.
