Gophers coach Ben Johnson isn't afraid to send messages to his young basketball team with playing time this season.
Ben Johnson not afraid to make starting lineup changes during Gophers' losing streak
The Gophers men's basketball team has used four different starting lineups this season. Will they use a fifth on Wednesday vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff?
December 14, 2022 at 11:50PM
In Sunday's 69-51 loss to Mississippi State, freshman Jaden Henley was replaced by graduate transfer Taurus Samuels in the backcourt, which was the fourth different starting lineup this season. Henley played two minutes, but Samuels had 32 minutes in the game.
The starting lineup change didn't result in a better outcome with the Gophers suffering their fifth straight loss. But Johnson said Henley understood the move was made to give them more experience. It wasn't necessarily about what his talented young guard did wrong.
"There's no issue there or problem there," Johnson said. "His attitude is fine, but I've also told him sometimes because of our circumstances with guys out [Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen done for the season] that's going to afford minutes to more people. It's also a fine line with expectations with 'I'm just going to get minutes.'"
Johnson said no player on the team should feel entitled to start or playing extended minutes because of a lack of depth with injuries. Not that anyone told him they deserved to start or be in the rotation.
"I did that with Pharrel [Payne] at Purdue," said Johnson, who played the gifted freshman big man limited minutes in the second half of the Big Ten opening loss. "You're too good of a player to have lapses. And I did want him to kind of be mad about it."
The Gophers started Ta'Lon Cooper and Dawson Garcia in all 10 games, but the other spots have changed. Henley has nine starts, followed by Treyton Thompson (7), Jamison Battle (6), Will Ramberg (4) and Joshua Ola-Joseph (3).
Battle has started every game since he returned from a foot injury. Thompson and Ramberg are now seemingly out of the Gophers' main rotation. Ola-Joseph's emerged as a surprise starter the last few games. And Samuels picked up his first start Sunday.
"There can be moves that can be made for anybody," Johnson said. "Not just [Henley]. If I'm not doing what needs to be done, I don't just get to go out there and play just because there are minutes available. We must within our roster construct a competitive environment."
GAME INFO
Time: 7 p.m. CT, Wednesday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Gophers 17.5-point favorites. Series: First meeting in program history. TV: Big Ten Network. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: KTLK 1130-AM
PROJECTED STARTERS
MINNESOTA GOPHERS (4-6, 0-2 BIG TEN)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Ta'Lon Cooper 6-4 195 Jr. 11.0
G – Taurus Samuels 6-1 195 Sr. 1.9
F – Jamison Battle 6-7 220 Jr. 11.8
F – Joshua Ola-Joseph 6-7 215 Fr. 7.4
F – Dawson Garcia 6-11 230 So. 13.9
Key reserves – Pharrel Payne, F/C, 6-9, Fr., 8.4 ppg; Braeden Carrington, G, 6-4, Fr., 6.5 ppg; Jaden Henley, G, 6-7, Fr., 5.2 ppg; Treyton Thompson, C, 7-0, So., 2.0 ppg.
Coach: Ben Johnson 17-23 career (2nd season)
Notable: The Gophers announced 6-8 freshman forward Kadyn Betts will redshirt the 2022-23 season after reclassifying and joining the team early this year. Betts will be part of a highly touted 2023 class that was signed Nov. 9, including five-star center Dennis Evans III and four-star guard Cameron Christie. … Junior forward Jamison Battle missed the first four games of the season after recovering from foot surgery. The All-Big Ten preseason selection made his season debut Nov. 21 vs. Cal Baptist in the SoCal Challenge in California. ... Freshman guard Braeden Carrington, who won Minnesota Mr. Basketball and a state title last season at Park Center, made his season debut Nov. 14 against DePaul after being out with an ankle sprain. ... Sophomore center Treyton Thompson, who started the first seven games, is back after missing the Purdue loss with an illness.
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF GOLDEN LIONS (3-8)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Shaun Doss Jr. 6-5 205 Sr. 17.0
G – Kylen Milton 6-4 192 So. 9.7
G – Brahm Harris 6-6 215 Sr. 2.7
F – Ismael Plet 6-8 230 So. 5.5
F – Chris Greene 6-8 225 Sr. 11.5
Reserves – Trejon Ware, G, 5-9, So., 2.8 ppg; Zach Reinhart, G, 6-6, Fr., 4.1 ppg; Robert Lewis, F, 6-9, Fr., 4.2 ppg; AC Curry, G, 6-5, Jr., 3.0 ppg.
Coach: Solomon Bozeman 10-32 (2nd season)
Notable: The Golden Lions opened the season with five of their losses against major conference opponents, including 88-43 at No. 2 Texas on Saturday. They opened the season with a narrow 73-72 loss at TCU on Nov. 7. Pine Bluff's leading scorer Shaun Doss Jr. is averaging 17.2 points per game and shooting 40.5% from three-point range. Pine Bluff head coach Solomon Bozeman is one of the youngest Division I head coaches in the country at 34 years old.
Fuller's score prediction: Gophers 70, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 58.
Minnesota, ranked first in the nation, dealt with injury and absence against No. 3 Michigan State.
