Freshman Cam Christie set to debut for Gophers; starting center Pharrel Payne out vs. UTSA

Talented freshman debut

The Gophers are expecting to play freshman guard Cam Christie for the first time this season Friday against Texas San Antonio. Christie, a 6-6 guard from Arlington Heights, Ill., was sidelined for the U's exhibition game and 80-60 season-opening win vs. Bethune-Cookman on Monday. After being out for weeks last month recovering from mononucleosis, Christie worked his way back into practice recently.

Christie coming off an illness could be on a minutes restriction. But sophomore big man Pharrel Payne (minor injury) is out for tonight's game against UTSA. Payne started in Monday's opener but was limited to 16 minutes in the game. The 6-9 Cottage Grove native was listed as questionable on the Big Ten's availability report Friday.

As a four-star recruit out of Rolling Meadows High, Christie impressed Gophers coaches and teammates in summer and early fall practices. He was competing for a starting backcourt spot and should add depth alongside Elijah Hawkins, Braeden Carrington, and Mike Mitchell Jr.

Rebounding concerns

As the old Bon Jovi song said, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Gophers were one of the worst rebounding teams in the Big Ten the last two seasons. They were ranked 13^th in the conference overall in rebounding margin both in 2022-23 (minus-2.0) and (minus-6.3) in 2021-22.

And the Gophers weren't off to a good start this season Monday. Bethune-Cookman barely won the rebounding battle 39-37 against its Big Ten foe but grabbed an impressive 22 offensive rebounds. That was more than any opponent last season.

Free throw fancy

The Gophers playing faster in the season opener not only created more offense, but it also helped Johnson's team get to the foul line.

Last season, the Gophers were last in Division I in free throw percentage (61.9%), but they showed improvement against Bethune-Cookman. They finished 77% from the charity stripe Monday on 27-for-35 shooting.

The 27 free throws made were the most in a game for the Gophers since they made 34 free throws during the 2020-21 season against Saint Louis and UMKC, respectively.

Gophers leading scorer Dawson Garcia had 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists Monday, but he also went 14-for-16 from the foul line. Garcia made the most free throws by a Gophers player since Marcus Carr went 14-for-19 vs. Saint Louis on Dec. 12, 2020.

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (1-0)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Elijah Hawkins 5-11 Jr. 10.0

G – Braeden Carrington 6-4 So. 13.0

F – Joshua Ola-Joseph 6-7 So. 8.0

F – Dawson Garcia 6-11 Jr. 23.0

Reserves – Parker Fox, F, 6-8, Sr., 7.0 ppg; Mike Mitchell Jr., G, 6-2, Jr. 6.0 ppg; Cam Christie, G, 6-6, Fr.; Jack Wilson, C, 6-11, Sr., 0.0 ppg; Kadyn Betts, F, 6-8, Fr., 0.0 ppg.

Coach: Ben Johnson 23-39 record (3^rd season)

Notable: The Gophers signed two in-state prospects to open national signing day Wednesday with Cherry (Minn.) guard Isaac Asuma and Alexandria forward Grayson Grove. Five Minnesota natives have been signed by Johnson in the last three classes. In the 2022 recruiting class, the Gophers landed Pharrel Payne, Joshua Ola-Joseph and Braeden Carrington from Minnesota.

TEXAS SAN ANTONIO ROADRUNNERS (1-0)

G – Adante' Holiman 6-0 So. 8.0

G – Christian Tucker 6-3 Jr. 18.0

G – Dre Fuller Jr. 6-6 Sr. 10.0

F – Trey Edmonds 6-10 Jr. 15.0

C – Carlton Linguard, Jr. 7-0 Sr. 12.0

Coach: Steve Henson 100-123 (8th season)

Notable: Henson reached a career milestone in Monday's opener with his 100th coaching victory at UTSA. The 55-year-old Kansas native started his career as an Illinois assistant under Lon Kruger in 1999-2000. After a brief stint at South Florida, he rejoined Kruger at UNLV and Oklahoma from 2004-16 before getting the opportunity to run his own program in San Antonio in 2016. As a player, Henson finished as Kansas State's all-time leader in assists and played six seasons in the NBA from 1990-1999.

Fuller's score prediction (1-0): Gophers 78, UTSA 65.