The Gophers trusted freshman Pharrel Payne to have a bigger role in their offense at just the right time to help them advance to the SoCal Challenge championship Wednesday vs. UNLV.
Payne's 15 points and 13 rebounds in the 62-61 overtime victory Monday against Cal Baptist was the first double-double by freshman for the Gophers since former Cretin-Derham Hall star Daniel Oturu in 2018-19.
With leading scorer Dawson Garcia in foul trouble, the Gophers plan was clearly to establish the 6-foot-9 Park of Cottage Grove product in the post off the bench. Payne almost never left the floor and played 40 minutes.
Garcia hit the game-winning shot Monday, but Payne's basket pulled the Gophers within a point down the stretch in the extra period.
"It felt great knowing I could contribute to that win," Payne said. "I feel personally I grew with my confidence a lot. Playing those first few games I was a freshman not wanting to make mistakes and not playing freely."
Payne's previous career-high was 12 points and eight rebounds against St. Francis Brooklyn on Nov. 11. He had 12 points in 27 minutes in the loss against DePaul on Nov. 14.
Probably the most impressive stat from Payne early this season is ranking third in the Big Ten shooting 76.9% (20-for-26) from the field.
"That's what it takes to not have any slippage," Johnson said. "We asked a lot of him as we do with all of our guys. But for him to be locked in for 40 minutes in Game 5 that's the stuff I get excited about."
