Gophers men’s basketball tops Hamline 79-57 in exhibition game

Flipping the script on the first exhibition game, Ben Johnson’s Gophers basketball team got off to a torrid 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 build-up early, but the Gophers still cruised to a 79-57 win in their final game before the regular season.

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

The Gophers seemed to lose a lot of interest in the game for several minutes thinking about Mitchell, but their teammate returned to the bench with ice on his shoulder.

To open the match, Mike Mitchell Jr. helped. starting the Gophers 4-for-4 from three-point range with three baskets from long range in the first 2 1/2 minutes. Brennan Rigsby, who finished with a team-high 16 points, went on his own three-point barrage and also opened the second half with three straight deep jumpers. Rigsby and Mitchell combined for seven of the team’s 11 threes.

However, Johnson’s squad entering the season was already in disarray with potential starting winger Femi Odukale missing both friendlies due to a hip injury. Senior guard Tyler Cochran is also out for at least another month after foot surgery.

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

Patterson last played in Williams Arena in high school at 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, breaking the team’s four-minute scoring drought.