Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson gave instructions to his team during practice on Sept. 26 at the Athletes Village. (Jerry Holt, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Gophers men's basketball team could only gauge so much about itself through months of competing against each other in practices this summer and fall.

It's time to play a different opponent.

The Gophers will finally get that opportunity Saturday in Fort Collins, Colo., in a closed scrimmage at Colorado State. Closed, or secret, scrimmages are not open to the fans or media, and the game results aren't typically made public by the teams.

"One thing about the scrimmages that I like is that you try to get somebody that is going to be competitive," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said, "play a certain style that will challenge your team."

Johnson returns four players from last season's 9-22 team, including scoring and rebounding leader Dawson Garcia and sophomore big man Pharrel Payne. That frontcourt duo made strides at the end of last season.

But the Gophers are just as eager to get their newcomers on the court together for the first time against an opponent, especially guards Cam Christie, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Elijah Hawkins.

Veteran forwards Isaiah Ihnen and Parker Fox were cleared for full contact this fall, so they could play for the first time since before suffering back-to-back season-ending knee injuries.

Last season, Colorado State flew to the Twin Cities to play the Gophers at Williams Arena for a closed scrimmage. The final score wasn't kept, but Payne stood out with his physical presence.

The Rams, who finished 15-18 last season, are coached by Minnesota native Niko Medved, a former Gophers student manager under Clem Haskins. Medved coached Colorado State to the NCAA tournament with former Breck standout David Roddy in 2021-22. Gophers assistant Dave Thorson was on Medved's staff before joining the Gophers three seasons ago.

The Gophers scrimmaged at Oklahoma in Johnson's first season in 2021. Closed scrimmages were eliminated in the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 concerns, which made it difficult for college basketball teams to prepare for their openers. The Gophers played Iowa State, Creighton, and DePaul in scrimmages in recent years.

"I'm really looking forward to going against somebody else that is a quality opponent," Johnson said. "Even though it's not on the schedule, to be honest I view it as an extra game because of how good they are. And we'll treat it as like an opener, so to speak, to get our guys ready."

The first Gophers game in front of fans will be a Nov. 2 exhibition against Division III Macalester at Williams Arena. The season opener is Nov. 6 at home against Bethune-Cookman.