Bench steps up for Gophers men's basketball in 78-49 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne

Gophers first-year coach Ben Johnson has a thing about sticking to routines, so there was little chance he'd mess with his starting lineup during an undefeated start.

Not surprisingly, the Gophers used the same starters for the fourth consecutive game Friday night, but they relied more on their bench for the spark to improve to 4-0 in a 78-49 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in front of an announced crowd of 9,451 at Williams Arena.

Irondale native Sean Sutherlin had a season-high 19 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field off the bench for the Gophers, who got 30 bench points for a lift after an early letdown. They trailed the Mastodons (2-1) by 10 points in the first half.

"It's nice to come off the bench with something that's a little bit different," Johnson said. "It's like in boxing when you have a body blow, body blow, body blow. Well, Sean is like the right-hand hook."

The Gophers had relied on their starters more than 356 other Division I teams in the country with the exception of Florida A&M. Their bench accounted for only 13.2% of the team's minutes before Friday, per KenPom.com.

After Sunday's 87-80 double-overtime win against Princeton for the Asheville Championship title, four of Minnesota's starters led the Big Ten in minutes played, including Jamison Battle's Big Ten-high 41.0 minutes per game.

Battle, the U's leading scorer this year, sat on the bench for only seven minutes total in the first three games, including playing 48 of 50 minutes in the double-overtime game.

Sutherlin, who with Charlie Daniels were the only Minnesota reserves previously averaging more than four minutes, watched as the starters lacked energy early in Friday's game, trailing 9-0 to open.

"We looked kind of flat out there," said Sutherlin, who was averaging 7.3 points this year. "We weren't being aggressive in the first five minutes, but [Johnson] brought us in right after the first media timeout and told us to be aggressive. And that's what we did."

A sluggish start led to the Mastodons taking a 15-5 lead in the first eight minutes, but Sutherlin and freshman Laye Thiam combined for seven bench points during a 10-0 run to tie the score in the first half.

Sutherlin, an athletic 6-5 senior, didn't settle for jump shots, instead driving downhill and attacking the rim. Purdue Fort Wayne took a 22-17 lead on a four-point play in the first half, but Sutherlin's three-point play fueled a 14-4 Minnesota run to take control 31-26 at halftime.

Sitting out last season with a torn labrum at New Hampshire, Sutherlin wasn't cleared until the summer after transferring. He showed Friday why the Gophers felt like they got a steal with 11 points and four of his seven rebounds in the first half.

"That's big-time when a guy can come off the bench and put up numbers like that," said Luke Loewe, who had 12 points and five assists. "He was finishing at the rim and getting to the free-throw line. He was a huge spark for our team. … He was bringing a ton of energy offensively and defensively."

Fatigue might have been a factor in the Gophers losing double-digit leads in the first three games in the second half. They had blown leads of 12, 16 and 11 points in wins against UMKC, Western Kentucky and Princeton, respectively.

BOXSCORE: Gophers 78, Purdue Fort Wayne 49

After combining for 53 points in the Asheville Championship final Sunday, Battle and Payton Willis combined for just three points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half Friday.

But Battle finally found his shooting stroke to score 12 of his 13 points in the second half. E.J. Stephens had 11 of his 13 points in the second half for the Gophers, who pulled away with a 19-4 run after halftime.

The Gophers held the Mastodons to 5-for-23 three-point shooting and forced 20 turnovers, but outscoring them 30-8 off the bench was the difference.

"Sean's different from the other perimeter guys we've got," Johnson said. "He's become comfortable with his role right now. Not saying that will ever change, but sometimes you don't mess with that."