Martin leaves, but rest of Gophers crush North Dakota

For now, Minnesota has enough, something the Gophers made very clear on Monday.

But after the roster shrank yet again, the road ahead is manned by a thinner team and one that has dealt with a startling amount of upheaval in the young season.

Two hours before the Gophers dismantled North Dakota 92-56 in a game in which center Mo Walker posted a career high (22) in points, Minnesota announced that little-used freshman forward Josh Martin would transfer, effective immediately.

The move gives the Gophers only nine scholarship players for at least the rest of December.

"Guys are dropping," DeAndre Mathieu said at his locker postgame, shaking his head. "And we haven't made it to Christmas yet. But the guys in this locker room, we're going to stick together and continue to fight."

The Gophers had plenty of that on Monday when they established their game plan early, pounding the ball inside to Walker, who had no problems dominating the undersized and overwhelmed North Dakota frontcourt. Soon, Mathieu caught fire as well, and six Gophers scored in double digits in routing a team with six Minnesotans on the roster.

The players — some of whom said Martin hasn't spoken to the team since announcing his decision — know they're fighting an ugly perception as well. The 6-foot-9 forward was the third player to leave the team in some capacity in a little more than a month.

The drama started just before the start of the regular season, when Illinois State transfer Zach Lofton — who would have redshirted this year — was kicked off the team for failing to meet its "expectations and obligations." Then, two weeks ago, sophomore guard Daquein McNeil was arrested on two counts of felony assault and subsequently suspended. Counting the absence of international freshman big Gaston Diedhiou — who was denied admission in late August — the Gophers are short four expected teammates.

"To the outside, people may say there are issues," said Joey King, who was Martin's roommate and said he never saw the transfer coming. "But our team, we know what we have. We're fired up about who we have in this locker room and we're not worried about the outside thinking something is wrong with us. We know who we are and we're going to go out and compete every single night."

Martin's departure doesn't change much about Minnesota's in-game plan because the Seattle native was averaging 1.3 points and one rebound in 5.4 minutes a game. It does, however, increase the onus on starting power forward King and his backup, Charles Buggs, to stay on the floor.

The Gophers can't afford foul trouble and they can't afford fatigue from those two.

"We're getting smarter with our legs, just making sure we have the energy to go out and compete," King said. "It's definitely a little different, but we're taking care of it."

The rest of the nonconference slate doesn't bring any intimidating matchups and gives the Gophers more time to adjust to a rotation that has shifted (mostly because of McNeil's absence) and practice numbers that keep dwindling. Although it's hard to believe McNeil could return to the team, he hasn't yet been dismissed. A Jan. 5 court date is looming. Diedhiou, a raw but athletic 6-9 big man, meanwhile, could join the team for the second semester should he pass an English proficiency test.

Coach Richard Pitino is not permitted to talk in detail about Diedhiou since he's technically still a recruit, but he said the staff was hoping to get word about his status soon.

In light of the news, the coach took a decidedly positive stance, touting the team's rotation, short though it is, and calling the future "bright."

"I think we've got some nice young pieces, and I think we've got some nice young recruits coming in," he said.