Dawson Garcia’s big night and three other things learned from Gophers opener

Not even a minute into the Gophers men’s basketball opener Wednesday, Dawson Garcia banged knees with an Oral Roberts player while trying to defend the rim.

The Big Ten’s leading returning scorer limped as he walked to the huddle during a long review for a shot clock violation.

Garcia seemingly dodged actually getting hurt, but he didn’t touch the ball for the first two possessions.

How the game started you’d never guess the 6-11 senior Gophers leader would put together one of the best performances of his career in the 80-57 victory.

Garcia ended up with 30 points on 11-for-14 shooting and 4-for-4 free throws. It was the most points in an opener for a Gophers player since Marcus Carr’s 35 points vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2020.

“The last three games, he’s been pretty good production wise,” said Gophers coach Ben Johnson, who included the two exhibition games.

Here are four things learned from the season opener against Oral Roberts:

Garcia had three games last season when he scored 30 points or more, including a career-high 36 points on the road against Ohio State.

The Prior Lake product, though, had never made more than three three-pointers in a game before Wednesday. He hit his first three from long distance midway through the first half before setting a career high with 4-for-5 shooting beyond the arc in the game.

A career 34.3% shooter from long range, Garcia shot a career-low 31.9% last season but took his most threes yet with 91. Now it’s about taking the right ones. His first two shots Wednesday were after squaring up and taking his time before launching from deep.

“The biggest thing is Dawson’s a good shooter,” Johnson said. “It’s about being selfish with the shots that you take. But just taking rhythm shots. Having your feet set and being shot ready. I thought there wasn’t a shot today that he really rushed.”

Fittingly, the Gophers opened Wednesday’s game with a turnover, losing the ball on a one-on-one drive attempt gone wrong.

That wasn’t the theme of the night moving forward, even with Garcia’s big game. Nothing really seemed forced for the most part. Ball movement was impressive. That led to 25 assists on 30 field goals, including Mike Mitchell Jr.’s nine assists and just one turnover. Newcomer Femi Odukale also had six assists in his debut.

The Gophers ranked third in the Big Ten with 17.3 assists per game last season, including 11 games with 20 assists or more. That was with the Big Ten assist leader Elijah Hawkins, who transferred to Texas Tech.

Not bad in the first game without him.

“We were making all of the one-more passes,” said Mitchell, who had his highest assist game since a career-high 11 twice at Pepperdine in 2022-23. “It felt good out there.”

Remember the Gophers’ first exhibition game against Bemidji State when assistant coach Dave Thorson was screaming so loud early from the sidelines and in the huddles his face turned red?

Thorson’s been a defensive-minded coach since his days leading DeLaSalle to high school state titles, so he wasn’t having it when the Gophers were lacking effort that day in the first half.

That definitely wasn’t the case Wednesday. Oral Roberts opened the game shooting 4-for-20 from the field and 9-for-32 (28.1%) in the first half. That led to a 29-8 Minnesota advantage to start.

Garcia was the anchor of the defense in the paint. He had no blocks, but his physicality was evident while staying out of foul trouble. He also finished with all eight of his boards on the defensive end.

On the perimeter, Mitchell, Odukale, freshman Isaac Asuma and others were locking up Oral Roberts’ guards, especially the Summit League preseason player of the year. Isaac McBride finished with 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting. The Golden Eagles were held to 7-for-23 shooting from three.

“Guards and bigs with pick-and-roll defense — we had guys who were really active,” Johnson said. “It comes with being the aggressor and getting to the ball. They showed urgency. They showed they can pick up from scouting reports and what we’re trying to do defensively.”

This might be the Gophers’ deepest team in Johnson’s four seasons with the program.

Newcomers Frank Mitchell, Caleb Williams and Tyler Cochran might all contribute this season, but they were sidelined for Wednesday’s opener. Mitchell’s nursing a shoulder injury. Williams was sick. Cochran is out for another month after foot surgery.

Not missing a beat with that much potential production out is a good earl sign. Frank Mitchell, the starting center in exhibition games, could return sooner than expected. Possibly even making his debut Saturday against Omaha, Johnson said.

“He’s in workouts right now,” Johnson said. “We haven’t done anything contact wise, but he’s looked good working out. Feels great. That’s obviously going to be up to the medical staff. We’ll see. We’re not going to rush it by any means.”