Read my full gamer on DeAndre Mathieu's outbreak in today's Star Tribune here.

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Through a preseason and two regular-season games, through small sample size ups and down, one thing is obvious:

This Minnesota team is stuffed with potential scorers.

Carlos Morris, if all goes according to plan (his plan and the Gophers' plan) will be one of them. The JUCO transfer emanates athleticism. He has the ability to slither past most opponents and leave them watching as he scores at the basket.

He also, as we have discovered in these last two games, REALLY likes to score, or at least try, even if that means jacking up contested shots at the front end of the shot clock.

It's enough to make Gophers coach Richard Pitino shake his head and be reminded of another trigger happy guard he's coach in last year's senior Malik Smith. The two are very different players but possess "similar mindsets shooting the ball," Pitino said with a frustrated chuckle. Both have confidence for days, and short memories. Both are known to make some bad decisions along the way.

"You've got to let him go through it a little bit," Pitino said. "He's a little too consumed with his offense right now, and I think he knows that."

Tuesday, we saw more of that. The Florida native finished with nine points, four rebounds, two assistsm two blocks and a steal, but he went 3-for-10 from the field and prevented a teammate from scoring on a few of his attempts that could have been passed to a better option instead.

To a degree, Pitino likes Morris' aggressive scoring attitude, but he wishes his starting 3-man would be smarter about it. The staff has begun tracking touches in the paint – as the coaches do with the team as a whole – separately for Morris. Tuesday, the guard had nine, Pitino said.

"He needs to get 10-plus every game," he said, emphatically. "Stop shooting jump shots all the time. Drive the basketball."

At times, we've seen Morris head for the basket, though, even when he's actually open for a jumper. Pitino knows it's a process. In the meantime, he doesn't want to hamper one of the guards that has the chance to be very dynamic for the Gophers this season.

"I don't want him looking at the bench saying 'Should I shoot it, should I not?'" Pitino said. "I hate that. I want my guys to play with freedom. But that being said, if you can go by anybody, go by anybody.

"You've got to remember, he is a JUCO kid but he's really a freshman mentally. I mean's he's not played at this level. He'll get to it, he'll be a really good player."

Quick hits:

*17 steals for Minnesota marked the most of the Pitino era so far.

*Despite the strong performance, with so many other games going on, the Gophers dropped from 36 to 48 in the Kenpom.com rankings.

Tweeted:

*"Hollins only has taken one shot, but I'm not upset. WKU is clamping down on him, and he's made a positive impact in other ways." -- @DanOwen247

*"This is pace and pressure Pitino has wanted all along. #Gophers couldn't do this vs. bad teams last year. Still needs work vs. good ones." --@FromTheBarn

*"Dre Mathieu looks like a jet flying by Kentucky crop dusters in this game. No Hilltopper can stop the ball when it's in his hands." --@RyanJames