Gophers defense creates chaos with full-court pressure

The Gophers mimicked Louisville defensively in their first two seasons under Richard Pitino, using a full-court press as often as possible to create havoc.

The results were impressive in nonconference play, but it didn't carry over to the Big Ten consistently.

Pitino ditched pressing as his primary defensive style, but it hasn't gone away for good. Just look at Minnesota scoring 33 points off 20 turnovers in Friday's 82-75 win against Arkansas State at Williams Arena.

"We still want to play fast," Pitino said. "It's a different type of fast. I think if we can get out on the break, then we're pretty good. But you have to defend and rebound to do that. We're not doing too much 2-2-1 (press) back to zone like we did our first two teams. But I thought in the first half that was a really, really good defensive performance."

Arkansas State committed nine turnovers in the first half, which led to Minnesota scoring 17 points. The second half was just as disruptive with the Gophers scoring 16 points off 11 turnovers.

Problem is that when you play at faster pace it can cause you to make more mistakes. The Gophers had 11 turnovers in the second half, leading to 17 points for the Red Wolves. That needs to be cleaned up going into Tuesday's Big Ten opener against Michigan State.

MCBRAYER ON A ROLL: For the fifth straight game, Dupree McBrayer scored in double figures on Friday with a team-high 19 points. He's averaging 15.8 points on 55.6 percent shooting (25-for-45) from the field during that stretch.

McBrayer's career high was 14 points coming into his sophomore season. But he's scored 18 points or more four times in 13 games this year.

COFFEY RETURNS: Freshman Amir Coffey returned to the court Friday after missing last week's win against LIU-Brooklyn with a toe injury. Coffey had seven points on 2-for-3 shooting with five assists and a team-high three steals. But the former Hopkins star's five turnovers were a concern.

BLOCK STREAK ENDS: Reggie Lynch typically finds a way to be a force defensively with foul trouble in limited minutes. But the 6-foot-10 junior center didn't make much of an impact Friday with six points, two rebounds and zero blocks in 15 minutes. His streak of 28 straight games with a block came to an end, dating back to his sophomore season at Illinois State. Lynch still is tied for the Big Ten lead in blocks per game (3.3) with Penn State's Mike Watkins.