Without Mike Mitchell, Gophers guards need to keep stepping up
Mitchell seems likely to miss his eighth straight game because of a high ankle sprain in Wednesday's Big Ten opener.
The absence of starter Mike Mitchell Jr. has thrust fellow Gophers guards into large roles so far this season. That will most likely continue in the Big Ten opener against Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
While Mitchell has been listed as questionable with a high ankle sprain in recent games, he is unlikely to play against the Spartans at Williams Arena. This will keep other guards — Lu’Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale, Brennan Rigsby and Isaac Asuma — in bigger roles.
Head coach Ben Johnson said before practice Tuesday that Mitchell has yet to test the ankle, and Johnson wants to be careful with his rehab in consideration of the big picture. After Michigan State, Minnesota will be off until a road game at Indiana on Monday. They don’t want him to roll the ankle again.
With Mitchell sidelined in the past seven games, Odukale has moved into the starting lineup. He and the other guards, primarily Patterson, have had the chance to work through mistakes.
“That is the big thing, early in the year, to be able to get guys to play through things, because that will help come late in the year,” Johnson said.
Good memory
A year ago, the Gophers posted one of their best wins of the season against Michigan State in February. Cam Christie had 19 points in a 59-56 win at The Barn.
“It was a big-time win,” forward Dawson Garcia said Tuesday. “We made some big-time plays down the stretch. It was a close game. It was definitely a good memory.”
The Spartans won the previous trip to East Lansing, Mich., in January and the subsequent match-up in the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis in March.
Another homecoming
The Gophers’ guards will face Spartans guard Tre Holloman, the Cretin-Derham Hall product who had a game-high 19 points in MSU’s 94-91 overtime win over North Carolina in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27.
Holloman committed to Michigan State soon after Johnson was hired at Minnesota.
“Michigan State had been recruiting him since his freshman year,” Johnson said Tuesday. “I’m not trumping a relationship that they have had for three years.”
Holloman is sixth on the Spartans with a 7.6-point average and second with 3.5 assists per contest.
“He embodies what they are,” Johnson said. “He’s tough. He plays hard. He’s a communicator. He’s a connector. He’s about the right stuff. He’s a big team guy. It doesn’t matter if he is starting or off the bench. That kid is all about winning.”
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