Gophers roommates Lu’Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale combine for 27 points vs. Wichita State

ORLANDO, FLA. – Gophers basketball senior starters Lu’Cye Patterson and Femi Odukale are also roommates this year, so they talked all the time about not stressing over early season shooting struggles.

Patterson broke out of his slump before the trip to Florida and that confidence carried over. Odukale figured his scoring ability would show up at some point if he keep being aggressive.

Odukale and Patterson combined for 27 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds in Thursday’s 68-66 overtime loss against Wichita State to open the ESPN Events Invitational. It was by far their best game together.

“We knew we were playing bad,” Odukale said. “But we always talked about better days ahead. We had so much success and had pride before Minnesota. Now I know him on a better level. We always say we can’t worry about the past and better days ahead.”

Before Orlando, Patterson halted a 1-for-16 shooting slump from three-point range with 19 points on 4-for-9 shooting from long range in Monday’s 68-65 home win against Central Michigan. He was 6-for-20 from the field Thursday, but he had a team-high 14 points in 44 minutes.

Patterson and Odukale trapped the Shockers on the full-court press to force the turnover before tying the game late in overtime. Odukale’s steal led to Patterson passing to Rigsby for the dunk to make it 66-66.

Gophers’ scoring leader Dawson Garcia was held to just four points before fouling out, so that meant plays had to come from others.

“Femi and I have played in over 100 college games,” Patterson said. “So it’s nothing to just step up and do our job and play our role. Not having Dawson’s presence out there with him fouling out was kind of tough, but sometimes it’s like that. Those are the cards we were dealt. We had to find a way to win with the people out there.”

Freshman Isaac Asuma had missed the front end of a 1-and-1 late in Thursday’s game, but he didn’t let that keep him from knocking down what was almost the game-winning free throws in regulation against Wichita State.

The Cherry, Minn., native was fouled immediately on the inbounds pass with 10 seconds left. He was just 2-for-5 on free throws in six previous games this season, but calmly drilled both shots at the line to take a 57-54 lead against the Shockers.

“Those were obviously huge, especially for a young player,” coach Ben Johnson said. “For him to rebound like that and make those two shots … multiple guys did a lot of really good things. As hard as it is, we have to be able to watch the film and learn from it with a quick turnaround.”

Asuma’s only 6-3 and 190 pounds, but he also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to lead the Gophers on Thursday. He’s averaged 7.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the last three games off the bench.

Starting guard Mike Mitchell Jr. participated in warmups Thursday for the first time since suffering a high-ankle sprain in the Nov. 9 win vs. Nebraska Omaha.

Mitchell, who averaged 6.5 points and 6.0 assists in two games this season, will be a game-time decision again Friday, according to Johnson. Senior guard Caleb Williams, who hasn’t played this season because of mononucleosis, was also upgraded to questionable.