The first exhibition game is in the books. For those of you unable to watch (because it wasn't on TV anywhere)...the game will be rebroadcast on BTN Wednesday at noon. Set your DVRs or play hooky from work.
The Gophers defeated Bemidji State behind the double-double from Trevor Mbakwe, 17 points & 11 rebounds, and the 15 points from Ralph Sampson III. But we know what kind of production we'll be getting from those two guys, especially against DII competition. The thing everyone wants to know is how did the new guys do?
Andre Hollins seemed to have a great game (I haven't seen it yet, it wasn't on TV). Hollins scored six points while dishing out eight assists with zero turnovers. That kind of a box score most nights would be outstanding wouldn't it? but according to Marcus Fuller his debut was up and down.
He was out of control at times. He took some bad shots. He was slow to defend the outside shot.
But as far as getting his teammates the ball, the Memphis native excelled.
In his debut as the Gophers' starting point guard, Hollins showed some nerves, making only 2 of 7 shots from the field for six points, but he made up for that with eight assists and zero turnovers
Joe Coleman added seven and the rest of the second unit struggled which allowed the Beavers to stay in the game.
Guards Maverick Ahanmisi and Chip Armelin sputtered in their first game of the season, and the Gophers scored just 30 points in the first half. The Beavers hit four 3-pointers in the first half to hang around and were down just nine at the break.
Smith hardly looked pleased with the performance, ripping into his second unit in the second half when center Elliott Eliason didn't get back on defense and allowed an easy layup for Ellisor that made it 42-33.
So it sounds like there were mixed results in the exhibition opener. This can only be a good thing as it gets things on film that the team needs to work on before their next game. Trevor Mbakwe had this to say following the game...
"I think it starts on defense. I think we just got kind of out of position a couple times. …We didn’t play as hard. We lacked intensity some times in the game. I think when we picked it up, we were able to extend our lead a little bit, but then we kept them in the game."
"These games show you where you are, what you should keep on working as an individual and as a team."
The Gophers host Augustana on Monday in their final tune-up before the regular season. That game will also not be on TV but you can find it on Gopher's / BTN All Access