Gophers top Hamline 79-57 in final tune-up before regular season

Flipping the script from the first exhibition game, coach Ben Johnson’s Gophers basketball team got off to a scorching start Tuesday night with a 19-0 lead against Division III Hamline at Williams Arena.

An injury to starting big man Frank Mitchell early in the first half soured the energy in the building early, but the Gophers still cruised to a 79-57 victory in their last tune-up before the regular season.

The bruising 6-8, 260-pound junior transfer from Canisius dove for a steal at midcourt around the 16-minute mark. After a Hamline player landed on him, Mitchell was writhing in pain before holding his right arm walking down to the locker room.

Mitchell returned to the bench with ice on his shoulder, but the extent of the injury was uncertain after the game.

“It’s unfortunate because he was playing really well with a ton of energy and a ton of juice,” Johnson said. “He’s done everything to get himself to this point, so to have a little setback you feel bad for him. That part stings a little bit.”

Opening the game, Mike Mitchell Jr. helped the Gophers start 4-for-4 from three-point range with three baskets from long distance in the first 2 minutes. Brennan Rigsby, who finished with a team-high 16 points, went on his own three-point barrage to open the second half. Rigsby and Mitchell combined for seven of the team’s 11 threes.

Johnson’s roster entering the season was already banged up with potential starting wing Femi Odukale missing both exhibition games to rest a hip injury. Senior guard Tyler Cochran is also out for at least another month following foot surgery.

The Gophers started senior guard and Minneapolis native Lu’Cye Patterson in his home debut Tuesday after missing the Bemidji State exhibition game with a shoulder injury.

Patterson last played at Williams Arena in high school with Brooklyn Center, but he finished his career at Minnesota Prep. He hit his first unofficial basket in a Gophers uniform midway through the first half to snap the team’s four-minute scoring drought.

The Charlotte transfer finished with five points and two assists in 19 minutes.

Mitchell picked up where he left off when he had a team-high 19 points in the Gophers’ 90-65 win Oct. 19 against Bemidji State. The 6-2 senior looked for his scoring opportunities early Tuesday with nine of his team’s first 14 points.

Rigsby, though, probably deserved to be the MVP. The highlight sequence of the night came when his soaring block off the backboard led to a logo shot for his third straight three-pointer in the second half.

The Gophers were led by Rigsby in scoring through two exhibition games with 16.5 points per game on 57% shooting from the field and 7-for-14 from three.

Rigsby said Gophers assistant Marcus Jenkins told him at halftime he needed to pick up his intensity, so he had 13 points in the second half.

“We were still winning, but he’s like, ‘I need more from you,’ ” Rigsby said. “I was like: ‘I got you. I got you.’ I kind of started to find a groove.”

The Big Ten is loaded with size and frontcourt talent, so the Gophers were hoping Frank Mitchell would be their answer to battle inside alongside senior Dawson Garcia.

Garcia finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes against Hamline. Mitchell wasn’t able to return to the game after his injury, but the Gophers possibly found his replacement in the meantime.

Trey Edmonds, a 6-10, 250-pound senior from Texas San Antonio, provided an inside presence nine points and a team-best seven rebounds and two blocks.

The Gophers open the regular season Nov. 6 against Oral Roberts at the Barn. The 2023 Summit League champion Golden Eagles struggled with a 12-19 record last season.