When you introduce the most newcomers in more than a decade the chances of one of them making a splash in their debut is pretty high.
That was the case with the Gophers men's basketball team when five of their seven newcomers took the court for their first official game in Tuesday's 85-50 win against Cleveland State.
Starting guards and transfers Marcus Carr and Payton Willis had the best Gophers debut in six years.
They combined for 35 points, 16 assists, 11 rebounds and eight of the team's 13 three-pointers. Both Carr and Willis scored the most points for a Gophers newcomer since Drake transfer and former Eastview star Joey King had 20 points in Pitino's first game as Minnesota's coach vs. Lehigh on Nov. 8, 2013.
"They have a nice quiet confidence about them, which I like," Pitino said. "They're eager for these opportunities in front of them. When you sit out a year like Payton and Marcus have, you're going to take advantage of those opportunities right away."
Carr, a 6-foot-2 sophomore Pittsburgh transfer, had 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field, eight assists and seven rebounds. He was just two assists and three rebounds away from the U's first triple-double since legend Mychal Thompson in 1976.
Sitting out together last season helped Carr and Willis build chemistry that "shows on the court," Carr said.
"We've gotten used to each other's games a lot," Carr said Tuesday. "We know where each other is going to be on the court. We communicate a lot when we're out there in timeouts and everything. Just let each other know we're on the same page. The fact we were sitting out last year and watch away games at home together and built that bond."
