Five Gophers men's basketball takeaways from nonconference and early Big Ten play

Whatever you think you know from watching the Gophers men's basketball team through nonconference play this season could change if Ben Johnson finds the right group to play together and to play more efficiently.

Johnson, in his second year with the program, admits that he's still trying to figure out his team with Big Ten play resuming for the Gophers (6-6, 0-2 Big Ten) on Tuesday at Wisconsin.

The different lineups and rotations so far have led to the Gophers dropping five straight games and going 0-5 vs. power conference opponents, so Johnson is open to mixing it up moving forward.

"I'm about whoever is going to help us compete and win," Johnson said after Thursday's game vs. Alcorn State was canceled because of travel issues. "I think that will be forever changing. I don't think we're a team that has a straight set lineup."

Here are five takeaways from nonconference play and the U's early Big Ten schedule:

Freshmen roles

There might be more impactful freshmen individually in the Big Ten, but no team in the conference has relied on freshmen more than the Gophers. Johnson had the only Big Ten team with three freshmen averaging at least 20 minutes per game in the first 11 games. Braeden Carrington (24.8), Pharrel Payne (21.2) and Jaden Henley (19.6) average the most minutes for the U freshmen, but Joshua Ola-Joseph (17.7) isn't far behind. Carrington, who had 20 points vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, carries a mature demeanor and high basketball IQ that gained Johnson's trust quickly with 24 minutes or more in eight of his 10 games. But Ola-Joseph, who has started the past five games, was the most consistent scorer recently by averaging 10 points in the five games he played double-digits minutes.

Henley showed flashes of his potential, starting the first nine games, but his role changed (18 minutes combined in last three games) when grad transfer Taurus Samuels became a starter. Payne played fewer than 20 minutes in four of the past seven games, but he has as much upside as any freshman in the Big Ten. The 6-9 big man leads the U freshmen with double-figure scoring in five games and leads all Big Ten freshman in field goal percentage (72.2) and blocks (1.25).

Garcia the go-to guy?

The Gophers were on the verge of falling to Cal Baptist in overtime in the SoCal Challenge opener Nov. 21, but Dawson Garcia came to the rescue with a game-winning shot with five seconds left. That also happened to be the season debut game for All-Big Ten preseason forward Jamison Battle.

The U's best scorer is Battle, who averaged a team-high 17.5 points last season, including a career-high 39 pts vs. Maryland. But Johnson's running the offense this year through Garcia, who leads the team with 14.3 points and 5.6 rebounds going into 2023. The 6-11 North Carolina transfer has been playing his best basketball lately by averaging 16.3 points, six rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 blocks, and shooting 51% from the field in the past four games. Garcia also leads the Gophers with 19.3 points per 40 minutes ahead of Ola-Joseph (15.7), Battle (15.6) and Payne (14.7).

The biggest challenge for the Gophers will be establishing a reliable perimeter scorer. Battle certainly can contribute with his outside shooting, but he's been playing more power forward recently. That means Morehead State transfer Ta'Lon Cooper (9.9 points) and Carrington (7.9) are the top candidates. Cooper has been an inconsistent scorer, but he ranks second in the Big Ten with 6.9 assists per game (on pace to break Marcus Carr's single-season school mark).

Offensive offense

One of the biggest disappointments for the Gophers this season has been their struggles offensively. How bad has it been? The Gophers through Thursday were 237th nationally in offensive efficiency (99.4), their worst since advanced stats guru Ken Pomeroy started his rankings in 2002. So far, it even ranks behind the offenses in the two biggest losing seasons in program history, when the Gophers finished 9-22 in 2006-07 and 8-23 in 2015-16.

Starting the season without Battle for the first four gamesbecause of his foot injury didn't help. Having such a young team with four freshmen in the rotation is part of the scoring inconsistencies as well. They rarely push the pace as one of the slowest tempo teams (303rd nationally) in the Big Ten this season. And the Gophers haven't discovered how to put themselves in the best position to score schematically. The result is they rank last in the Big Ten in scoring offense (63.4), 12^th in field goal percentage (42.6) and 12^th in three-pointers per game (6.8). They already have four games this season with fewer than 60 points, which is close to their seven all last season.

Free throw frustration

The Gophers missed 14 free throws in the season-opening 61-60 victory against Western Michigan, but Johnson chalked it up to first game jitters playing in front of fans for the first time at home.

Turns out foul shooting would become a major issue moving forward. Through the first 12 games, the Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten and 360th out of 363 Division I teams in free throw percentage (58.7). If this were season's end that would be the school's lowest mark since shooting 49.2% in 1958-59.

This could be a problem in the Big Ten as well. Garcia leads the team in free throw attempts and shoots 68.9% at the charity stripe, which isn't bad. But Cooper (51.2), Payne (42.9), and Ola-Joseph (51.6) are also among the team's top four players in foul shots attempted. What happens if they're asked to make key free throws down the stretch to help the Gophers win?

Defensive identity

Wisconsin (42.3%) and Northwestern (39.7%) were both shooting worse from the field than the Gophers this season through Wednesday, but they're a combined 19-4 with nine straight victories between them.

Those two teams have been able to lean on their defense this season, which ranks second (Northwestern's 55.5) and third (Wisconsin's 60.8) in the Big Ten in fewest points allowed.

As much as the Gophers have trouble scoring during stretches (first-half scoring droughts turned into big deficits in every loss), they've compounded things with poor defense.

In the five losses to major conference opponents this season, the Gophers have allowed the opposition to shoot 47% from the field and average 77 points per game, including 179 points combined vs. Michigan and Purdue in early December.