Gophers men's basketball leans on freshmen to beat St. Francis Brooklyn 72-54

A lengthy homestand couldn't come at a better time for second-year Gophers basketball coach Ben Johnson opening the season with four straight games at Williams Arena.

With injuries and a much younger roster than last season, the Gophers were forced to play several freshmen early. It was much easier to get adjusted to college basketball at home.

Getting the first-game jitters out of the way, the Gophers' freshmen combined for 40 points Friday night to extend the program's nonconference home win streak to 16 straight with a 72-54 victory against St. Francis Brooklyn in front of 8,232.

"As a former player I've been there firsthand and I know what they're going through," Johnson said. "That's why I wasn't fazed at all by the last game. As a young team, they need reps for every single thing. This was a perfect game for us."

The Gophers (2-0) saw themselves struggling to pull away in the first half for the second straight game when St. Francis Brooklyn only trailed by a basket late in the opening period.

After a quiet debut in Monday's 61-60 win vs. Western Michigan, freshmen Jaden Henley, Joshua Ola-Joseph and Pharrel Payne combined for more points in the first half (20) than the 13 points scored together in their first game. Henley led the Gophers with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting and 4-for-4 at the foul line.

"We tried to be aggressive and play free," Henley said. "After the first game we got under our belt, we really just felt more comfortable to the pace. We really understood how to cooperate with each other."

Dawson Garcia was the star in Monday's opener with 23 points, but the Gophers needed another scoring option after he sat with early foul trouble and then mostly rested Friday. Garcia finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes.

After Garcia left the game, Henley, the only freshman starter, scored his second basket this season with a three-pointer to spark an 11-0 run in the first half. Payne and Ola-Joseph also showed off their athleticism and physical presence to hold off St. Francis' comeback.

The best highlight of the first half was when Payne connected with Ola-Joseph on a backdoor cut pass that ended with an emphatic dunk.

Payne, who had 12 points and eight rebounds Friday, hammered down two dunks of his own. But Ola-Joseph, who had nine of his 12 points in the first half, had his teammates leap off the bench when he slammed over a Terriers defender late in the second half.

Junior Jamison Battle, last season's leading scorer, was out for the second straight game with a foot injury. Juniors Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen were out for the season with knee injuries. They all watched from the sideline as a youth movement took over.

Around the 14-minute mark in the second half with the shot clock about to expire, everything seemed fine with the ball in Henley's hands.

The 6-7 California native drove hard into the lane to draw the foul on a floater at the buzzer. He followed with two free throws. A minute later, Henley drilled his second shot from beyond the arc to extend the Gophers' lead to 58-34.

One Henley fan likely watching his buddy's play from afar this season is five-star 7-foot high school senior Dennis Evans III, who signed Wednesday in the Gophers' highly touted 2023 class, which includes Illinois' Cameron Christie.

Henley and Evans won't team up until next season, but everyone saw Friday how much the freshmen can impact the program right now.

"They just continue to get better and better each time they play," Garcia said. "Everybody in the locker room knows what they're capable of and we're very excited for them. You saw a glimpse of it tonight."