Gophers second-year men's basketball coach Ben Johnson assembled a practice lineup last month that included Jamison Battle, Dawson Garcia and Braeden Carrington, in what easily could have been three of his opening night starters.
Then Battle needed foot surgery. Garcia and Carrington were sidelined because of a muscle strain and ankle sprain this week, respectively.
Suddenly, Johnson was resting potential starters to be healthy for the Nov. 7 opener against Western Michigan. All three were out in Wednesday's exhibition against St. Olaf.
That made an offseason of excitement over a talented new squad turn into concern for fans before the Gophers rallied from behind to beat a veteran-led Division III opponent 71-55 at Williams Arena.
"Every game is important, but you've got to think big picture," Johnson said about sitting Garcia and Carrington. "We have a big week coming up opening the season. Not that they couldn't have gone. I think they could've, but that didn't make sense to me."
The Gophers, who trailed by seven points in the first half and were tied 31-31 at halftime, will need to rely on youth this season.
So a bright spot in a rough first outing early Wednesday was the freshmen trio of Joshua Ola-Joseph, Pharrel Payne, and Jaden Henley combining for 37 points. Fellow newcomer Ta'Lon Cooper also had all of his 13 points in the second half.
"Physically as a freshman, he's there, he's got it, he can play," Cooper said about Ola-Joseph, who had a team-high 14 points. "[Payne and Ola-Joseph are] just raw talent and don't understand how good they're going to be."
Johnson already ruled out Battle, his leading returning scorer, for next Monday's season opener with his status week to week. Garcia and Carrington are day to day but likely to be back for Western Michigan.
A North Carolina transfer, Garcia is a candidate to be the U's best scorer. Carrington, who was wearing a walking boot, is the most hyped of the U's talented freshmen as Minnesota's Mr. Basketball and could take a starting guard spot.
"If you asked those guys, they wanted to play," Johnson said. "Braeden as a freshman has a pretty good feel. Dawson, I know what he can do, so I'm not worried about that. So it was really good for [the other guys] to get extended minutes."
The U's starting lineup was Cooper, former walk-on Will Ramberg (earned a scholarship this fall), Henley, Payne and sophomore Treyton Thompson.
Ola-Joseph, a former Osseo and AZ Compass Prep forward, proved to be the best player on the floor early Wednesday with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first half off the bench.
The Oles, who were coached by former Gophers assistant Dan Kosmoski, went from controlling most of the first half to trailing 54-42 after Payne muscled in a layup plus the foul with 11:13 to play. St. Olaf had 12 of its 19 turnovers in the second half and got outscored 40-24 in the paint.
At 6-7 and 215 pounds, Ola-Joseph was nearly the same size as St. Olaf's big men. Payne resembled a man among boys at 6-9 and 255. Thompson, a 7-footer, controlled the boards. Their size, along with back-to-back threes from Cooper, changed the momentum in the second half.
What was noticeably absent was experience on the floor for the Gophers except for Cooper and grad transfer Taurus Samuels, who were named team captains with Garcia and Battle.
Five of the first eight Gophers players who saw the court in the first half were either freshmen or sophomores. St. Olaf's seven upperclassmen matched their Big Ten foe for most of the night.
The Gophers' lack of experience will become a factor even when they get healthy and could determine how competitive they can be once the real games begin.
