Gophers men’s basketball team rolls over Morgan State behind Mike Mitchell Jr.’s can’t-miss half

Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. was feeling so coldblooded after his sixth straight three-pointer Sunday that he pointed to his forearm to indicate he had ice in his veins as the Williams Arena crowd roared in the first half against Morgan State.

The 6-2 senior was having the game of his life at that point. The Gophers have routed opponents rarely this season, so might as well have some fun before Big Ten play resumes.

Mitchell hit his first eight shots, scoring all of his 22 points by halftime Sunday afternoon to help the Gophers end nonconference play with a 90-68 blowout win in front of a home crowd of 8,107.

Mitchell surpassed his previous high with the Gophers of 20 points last season. He cooled off right before sitting most of the second half and fell short of tying the school record of eight three-pointers, last reached by Payton Willis vs. Rutgers in 2022.

“I was just fortunate my teammates found me when I was open and the ball went in,” Mitchell said. “I always want to put more up there. That’s just how I am.”

Dawson Garcia finished with 18 points on 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc, to go with eight rebounds and three blocks, for the Gophers, who shot a season-best 13-for-29 from long distance.

The Gophers (8-5) entered the day as the second-to-worst three-point shooting team in the Big Ten and 327th nationally at 28.8%. They hope Sunday’s shooting can carry over into Thursday against Big Ten opponent Purdue at home.

Mitchell missing seven games with a high-ankle sprain hurt the Gophers' shooting numbers. He’s averaging 16.8 points on 53.6% shooting from three-point range in his four games since returning.

“He should be feeling good,” Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. “You want to come off break and you want to have a little bit of momentum going into January — and I think we did that today.”

Blowout wins for Johnson’s Gophers were hard to come by in nonconference play this season, which included losses to North Texas, Wichita State and Wake Forest.

Entering the game, the Gophers were last in the Big Ten in scoring (66.1). But they’re averaging 76.4 points on 47.9% shooting in the past five games, including Big Ten losses to Indiana and Michigan State.

“It was really good to see shots go in for us and move the ball,” Mitchell said. “I think a big thing was we had 20 assists. We had been training towards that for the last three or four games. That’s pretty good going into Purdue.”

In the first half Sunday, the Gophers surged ahead with a 30-10 run. Mitchell had 10 points during the rally, including eight straight to make it 42-21. He didn’t miss from the field until his first attempt of the second half.

Morgan State (6-10) pulled within 58-43, but Garcia scored 11 of his team’s next 16 points to stretch it back to a 27-point margin.

Parker Fox finished with 11 points and three blocks. Frank Mitchell also came off the bench for the first time Sunday to tie his season high with 10 points after missing the Dec. 21 win vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on concussion protocol.

A game like Sunday’s, when several players contributed to a big scoring effort, came at the right time, just before the thick of conference play begins.

“I kept telling guys in the huddle to make this momentum for the next one,” Fox said. “It was nice to have the ball go in the hoop, but at the end of the day Purdue is coming in on Thursday. And that’s a different beast.”