A day earlier, the newcomers had effectively squashed their mentors in three straight scrimmages behind closed doors.
So when the doors opened to the public, University of Minnesota men's basketball head coach Richard Pitino made sure he repeated that fact plenty of times to his veterans, who mostly made up Team Maroon – along with some help from freshman Jordan Murphy, who filled in for two injured centers – in the team's open intrasquad game on Sunday night.
Message received. Maroon routed Gold – a team of all freshmen and transfers, 78-51.
"Maroon needed to kick [Gold's] butt," Pitino said. "I think they were kind of waiting for today."
Although it's difficult to make many evaluations from four eight-minute quarters in which every player knows the playbook of his opponent, the apparent improvement of seniors Joey King and Carlos Morris was promising. Both played with a consistency and poise that was at times elusive a year ago.
King – who Pitino said has become the team's best shooter "by far'' – hit three of seven attempts from beyond the arc and finished with 17 points and nine boards, a rebounding total he's only reached once in the last two years.
Morris, meanwhile, was hitting clean shots off of passes and making good decisions when he had the ball, a rarity a year ago for a player who developed the reputation of a ball hog who never saw a shot he didn't like. He finished with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, with eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and just one turnover.
It was enough to raise some optimistic eyebrows after the game, with fans noting that they were starting to look like the leaders Minnesota will need this year with so much youth.
