MINNESOTA VS. ORAL ROBERTS
Tip Time: 7:01 P.M.
SERIES INFORMATION
First Time: Jan. 1, 2003 (W, 85-80)
Last Time: Dec. 21, 2017 (W, 77-63)
All-Time Series: Minnesota leads, 4-0 at Williams Arena
STARTING FIVE
• Minnesota opens the season by hosting Oral Roberts on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. The game is set to be streamed on B1G+. The 2024-25 season is the 130th season as a Golden Gopher sport, dating back to 1895-1896. Minnesota looks to extend its home-opening win streak to 10 straight seasons, dating back to the 2015-16 season. Minnesota’s last opener was a neutral-site loss to Louisville in 2014. Of the 18 Big Ten teams, 14 take the court on Nov. 4, with the four remaining teams opening play on Tuesday and Wednesday, including the Gophers.
• It’s a battle of the Golden teams in Wednesday’s match-up as the Golden Gophers face the Golden Eagles from Oral Roberts. Minnesota is 4-0 all-time against ORU, dating back to 2003. All games have been played at Williams Arena. Minnesota and Oral Roberts last met on Dec. 21, 2017, when the Gophers won 77-63.
• The Gophers closed exhibition play with a 79-57 win over Hamline on Oct. 29. Brennan Rigsby led Minnesota with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, Dawson Garcia added 11 points, and the Gophers jumped out to a 19-0 lead and continued through the game. All 14 eligible players saw action in the win.
• Ben Johnson enters his fourth year at the helm of Golden Gopher men’s basketball. In Johnson’s third year, the Gophers held a 19-15 overall record in 2023-24. Minnesota improved from 2-17 in Big Ten play and 9-22 in 2022-23 to 9-11 in league action and 19-15 overall in 2023-24. That win improvement marked the best in the Big Ten and one of the best nationally among power conference teams. The Gophers also produced their first winning season in five years during the 2023-24 campaign.
• Dawson Garcia was named to several preseason awards this year: Preseason All-Big Ten honoree, Naismith Top 50 Trophy Watch List, Preseason Finalist for Basketball Hall of Fame’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, and Blue Ribbon Preseason All-Big Ten. It was the second-straight year as a Preseason All-Big Ten and the third time on a Hall of Fame list of his college career.
PARKER PREACHES
Gopher forward Parker Fox spoke with MNN sports director Mike Grimm about the start of the season:
Parker Fox
CLOSING IN ON CAREER MILESTONES
• Minnesota has a number of individuals closing in on career and Minnesota milestones. Mike Mitchell Jr. and Femi Odukale are both closing in on 1,000 career points. Mitchell Jr. has 993 career points, while Femi Odukale holds 989 points.
• Dawson Garcia is 57 points away from 1,000 points as a Golden Gopher. Sitting at 943 points, Garcia would be the first Gopher to score 1,000 points in a Minnesota jersey since Daniel Oturu in 2020. He had 398 points his first season with the Gophers (2022-23) and 545 last season in 2023-24.
GET TO KNOW THE 2024-25 GOLDEN GOPHERS
• Minnesota returns two of its top three scorers in Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell as well as sixth-man Parker Fox, Kadyn Betts and walk-on Erick Reader. Garcia, a second and third-team 2024 All-Big Ten selection and 2025 Preseason All-Big Ten honoree, returns for his final year after averaging 17.6 points and is the top returning Big Ten scorer from a year ago. Of the returning Big Ten athletes, Garcia ranks first in scoring and only one of six returners who received All-Big Ten honors in the 2023-24 season. Mitchell Jr. is also a returning starter for the Gophers. He ranked third on the team in scoring when he averaged just over 10.2 ppg. He and Fox saw action in all 34 games in 2023-24, the only two Gophers to do so.
• The Golden Gophers add seven seniors (Tyler Cochran, Trey Edmonds, Femi Odukale, Lu’Cye Patterson, Brennan Rigsby, Caleb Williams as well as walk-on Lincoln Meister, a junior (Frank Mitchell) and two freshmen (Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove). Max Sheridan is also an addition as a sophomore walk on.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
• Like Minnesota, Oral Roberts has some new faces, welcoming 10 new roster additions in the 2024-25 season. ORU is led by second-year head coach Russell Springmann as the team went 12-19 in his first year. The Golden Eagles added six transfers and four freshmen, along with seven returners.
• Last year’s top scorer, Issac McBride, returns to the roster, who averaged 19.8 points and 3.5 rebounds. He also shot 44.8 percent from the field. McBride was named the Summit League Preseason Player of the Year and Summit League Preseason First Team as well as the Bracketeer Preseason All-American Watch List.
• ORU was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League Preseason Poll.
ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota continues action this opening week when it hosts Omaha on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
