Four things learned for a Gophers team riding a five-game winning streak

Gophers coach Ben Johnson isn't apologizing to anyone about having a nonconference schedule that might not have been that appealing this season.

Johnson resumes Big Ten play with the Gophers (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) on a five-game winning streak after last week's win against Maine. All five of those victories were by double figures, including four against opponents outside of the major conferences.

The U's nonleague schedule ranked at the very bottom at 362nd in the nation, per KenPom.com.

No game is a guaranteed win, though, especially in today's college basketball landscape. Look no further than Thursday's opponent Michigan (6-7, 1-1) losing last week to McNeese State at home.

"We've handled business the way good teams are supposed to handle business," Johnson said. "We're finally able to win games by 18-22 points. You're doing things you're supposed to do in games like this. And to me, that's a really good sign."

Here are four things learned after the Gophers finished nonconference play:

Last season, the Gophers won games against non-power-conference opponents by an average of 9.4 points, including three games by one possession. This season, the U's margin of victory is 22.6 points vs. those teams from a lower conference.

In fact, Minnesota's margin of victory overall entering this week was fourth in the Big Ten at 14.2 points per game. The only teams ahead were Purdue (18.7 points), Illinois (17.4) and Ohio State (14.4) as of Tuesday afternoon.

Sure, this is arguably the softest nonconference schedule the Gophers have played in a long time outside of an 18-point loss vs. San Francisco, but they still had to overcome adversity. Coming back to beat Nebraska when Dawson Garcia was injured in early December was the best win so far.

The Gophers have closed out games after taking double-digit leads. They learned from blowing a 20-point advantage in a Nov. 16 loss vs. Missouri at home. They've won eight home games in a row, since the Mizzou debacle, by an average of 21 points.

The Gophers entered the New Year leading the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 20.2 assists per game thanks mostly to one player.

Elijah Hawkins averaged 7.8 assists to lead the NCAA through the first 13 games. The junior point guard soared to the top after four double-digit assist performances in his last five games, including setting a school record with 17 assists in a Dec. 12 win vs. IUPUI.

Hawkins is averaging an incredible 11.6 assists and just two turnovers in his last five games. How are his numbers going to translate against better competition in Big Ten play? A good indication of that was the 5-11 Howard transfer finishing with 16 assists and seven turnovers combined against Ohio State and Nebraska in December.

After leading the Big Ten in turnovers to start the season, Hawkins improved his decisionmaking, which started in the second half of the Nebraska game when he had eight assists and one turnover in 20 minutes.

Hawkins pushing the pace this season led to the Gophers ranking second among Big Ten teams in turnovers per game (12.7), but only defending NCAA champion Kansas (72.5) has a higher percentage of assists per made field goals (69.5), per KenPom.com.

There's no player on the Gophers basketball team hotter than Mike Mitchell Jr., who scored in double figures in six of his last seven games, including five straight games entering Thursday's game at Michigan.

Mitchell transferred to the Gophers from Pepperdine as one of the top shooters in the West Coast Conference. He's had a similar impact shooting 41.7% from three-point range this season, tied with freshman Cam Christie for first on the team for players with at least 20 attempts.

During the last four games, Mitchell's averaging 16.5 points and hitting 58.3% (14-for-24) of his three-point field goals, including shooting 9-for-13 combined in wins vs. Maine and Ball State.

The Gophers ranked fourth in the Big Ten entering Tuesday, shooting 36.4% from three. Christie leads the team with four games with at least four three-pointers this season, but five players have double-digit threes so far this season.

Forwards Joshua Ola-Joseph (57.9%) and Isaiah Ihnen (40.5%) have been able to give the Gophers an outside shooting threat other than the backcourt. Ihnen broke out of a slump of 15 straight misses from beyond the arc by shooting 9-for-16 from long distance in the last four games.

Injuries hit the Gophers at the wrong time last season when Garcia was sidelined in the middle of Big Ten play, which contributed to a 12-game losing streak.

The Gophers had six players combine to miss 10 games this season, including Garcia out three games with a left ankle injury. Garcia returned just before Big Ten play in last week's win against Maine, but his supporting cast more than held down the fort without him.

Not having their leading scorer in the lineup forced others to raise their level of play inside. Ola-Joseph, Pharrel Payne and Parker Fox took a step forward being able to carry the scoring load at times. Coming off multiple knee injuries, Fox is still able to finish frequently above the rim (five dunks vs. IUPUI), inspiring to the team.

Braeden Carrington taking a leave of absence for his mental health brought the Gophers closer together as a team to support him. But it also increased roles for others in the backcourt.

A 6-6 former four-star recruit, Christie is leading all Big Ten freshmen in scoring (11.3 points), but he also appears to be making strides defensively.

On Thursday, Johnson should have a team at full strength again with Carrington expected to be available to play at Michigan. That adds the Gophers' top perimeter defender and former starting guard to a deeper rotation at the right time.