The outside expectations going into the 2019-20 season were not for an NCAA tournament for the Gophers men's basketball team. Far from it, actually.
There were no preseason college hoops publications or analysts talking about back-to-back trips to the Big Dance being in the cards in Richard Pitino's seventh season as Minnesota's coach.
Too many newcomers. Seven. Too inexperienced. Three sophomore starters. No Amir Coffey. No Eric Curry. Those were the excuses as to why Pitino would likely finish near the bottom of the Big Ten as projected.
Well, it's just past the midway point in conference play. Entering Wednesday's critical home game against Wisconsin, the Gophers (11-10, 5-6) are in ninth place in the standings after Thursday's 59-51 loss at Illinois. Surprisingly, Pitino is still right in the mix for an NCAA tourney berth.
What did we learn about the Gophers through the first half of the Big Ten season? There are five things that stand out as the calendar flips soon to February – and with March almost a month away.
OTURU'S NBA STOCK SOARS
There hasn't been a Gopher generate as much NBA buzz as Daniel Oturu since Kris Humphries was the last player drafted from the program in 2004. Humphries, a 6-foot-9 former Hopkins product, was a freshman who led the Big Ten in points and rebounds on a 12-18 team. Oturu is projected as high as a lottery pick with similar numbers to Humphries (19.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game). But the 6-10 sophomore is focused on winning. "You just have to focus on your teammates and your guys," Oturu said recently. "It's January. The NBA draft is in June. I'm not really worried about that. I'm just trying to help my team win to get to the NCAA tournament."
SHOOTING WOES CONTINUE
Pitino boasted entering this season that this would be a much better three-point shooting team than last year. That wasn't too hard to accomplish, considering the Gophers shot just 31.7 percent from three in 2018-19. That was worst in the Big Ten. Signs were positive early with Gabe Kalscheur and Payton Willis among the league leaders, but Kalscheur's shooting has dropped below his freshman percentage (32.9 from 41.0). Willis has been battling injuries with an ankle and now shoulder. Nobody else has consistently been a threat from long distance, which is obvious with Minnesota shooting 31.7 percent through 21 games (a conference-worst 27.1 in league play).
SECOND AND THIRD OPTIONS
Oturu's play hasn't dropped off much at all against tougher competition. He's almost a sure-fire All-Big Ten first-team selection, which would match former Gophers forward Jordan Murphy's accomplishment last year. Murphy and Amir Coffey gave Pitino a solid 1-2 punch a season ago. Oturu and Kalscheur also chipped in as sidekicks. So far, Minnesota lacks consistency with production outside of Oturu, especially on the road. Sophomore point guard Marcus Carr was sensational in sweeping Ohio State (56 points combined), and also in home wins vs. Clemson, Michigan and Penn State (24 points per game). But Carr is averaging 12 points on 29 percent shooting away from home. Fellow starters Kalscheur (8.4), senior Alihan Demir (7.7) and Willis (6.0) are averaging below double figures in Big Ten play.
BENCH DEVELOPMENT
Injuries happen. Top players have off nights. It says a lot about a team's depth when it can handle losing players to injury or poor play from starters by filling that void with another. Pitino leaned a ton on his starters this year with a tough early schedule (No. 1 schedule strength in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index). Carr (38.3) and Oturu (37.2) are first and second in Big Ten games in minutes played, while Kalscheur (36.2) is sixth. Willis also averaged 30-plus minutes as a starter. Not developing the bench has turned out to bite the Gophers. Willis, who missed his fourth game Thursday due to injury, was the backup point guard. The other option is freshman Bryan Greenlee, but he only averaged 1.2 minutes in five Big Ten games before Thursday. Senior Michael Hurt (6.2 mpg) and freshman Isaiah Ihnen (2.6 mpg) barely saw the floor as well. But they were asked to play a combined 29 minutes at Illinois. Freshman Tre' Williams (3.5 points) and sophomore Jarvis Omersa (2.2) have showed potential in a couple games as Pitino's top scoring reserves. But the Gophers average the fewest bench points per game (6.8) in the Big Ten. The next closest in bench points are Wisconsin (16.7) and Iowa (16.5) through Thursday's games.
FIND AN IDENTITY
What type of team are the Gophers? Do they like to run and gun? Do they want to slow it down and beat you down low with Oturu and on the boards? Are they tough and physical or finesse? It's at the point in the season when a team's identity or lack thereof becomes clear. Early in Big Ten play, the Gophers dominated opponents on the glass. They were plus-5.3 in rebounding margin after seven league games, trailing only Michigan State and Indiana in league play. But Minnesota has been outrebounded in four straight games since (1-3 record in that span), while losing the battle on the boards by minus-7.3. Oturu leads the Big Ten overall in rebounding, but he hasn't reached double figures in boards in four games. If rebounding is still a strength, the Gophers need to help Oturu in that area moving forward.
