The biggest question mark for the Gophers basketball team entering this season was outside shooting.
At least for one game, Minnesota showed it could be a better shooting team with 10 three-pointers in Friday's 86-74 opening win against Louisiana-Lafayette in front of 8,453 at Williams Arena.
The Ragin' Cajuns dared their Big Ten opponent to shoot from deep in the first half. Playing a tight zone turned out to be the wrong game plan. Richard Pitino's team made seven threes in the first half, and shot 10-for-25 (40 percent) from long distance on the night.
"I think when we take good shots, we are a good shooting team," Pitino said. "I think we saw that tonight, and know we are confident when we move the ball. I think probably one of our better strengths is passing. I think we are a good passing team."
The Gophers finished with 17 assists on 27 field goals, led by Nate Mason's seven assists. Mason and Dupree McBrayer tied with a team-best 15 points apiece. Mason (2-for-6) and McBrayer (3-for-5) and newcomers Akeem Springs (3-for-8) and Amir Coffey (2-for-3) all hit multiple three-pointers Friday.
Minnesota did not have a game last season where four players hit at least two three-pointers. In fact, the Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten and 310th out of 346 Division I basketball teams in three-point shooting percentage (31.0). That was the program's worst season from beyond the arc since shooting 30.9 percent in 1990-91.
Joey King graduated, taking his 40 percent shooting on a team-best 59 threes last season. But there's a chance Minnesota could be better with more than just one legitimate outside shooting threat.
The Gophers' best shooter is arguably freshman Michael Hurt, but he went 0-for-2 from three Friday. That probably won't happen too often this year.
