Richard Pitino’s Gophers are on a roll to start the season. They crushed Arkansas 85-71 at Williams Arena Tuesday night, making them 5-0 with Southern Illinois on the schedule Friday, and then the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Monday when the Gophers play their first road game of the season against Florida State.
Leading the charge for Minnesota: Freshman Amir Coffey, Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball winner from Hopkins High School.
Coffey led Minnesota to a win over St. John’s last week with 30 points. The last freshman to score 30 in a game for the Gophers was Kris Humphries more than a decade ago. That huge effort earned Coffey the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award.
The 6-foot-7 do-it-all guard followed that performance up with 19 points against Arkansas, all of them coming in the second half. Check out the videos below – he looks very good.
Peter Jok (POW) and Amir Coffey (FOW) win @B1GMBBall weekly honors.
Read more » https://t.co/EhYDdJah7fhttps://t.co/VQVSLg2Hd3
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 21, 2016
But it’s not just Coffey lighting it up to start the season. New names like Ahmad Gilbert and Akeem Springs are burying threes while Reggie Lynch is a force in the post. Lynch had 9 blocks against St. John’s.
Familiar names like Nate Mason, Jordan Murphy and Dupree McBrayer are also doing their part.
Minnesota has another month to refine its game before opening the Big Ten schedule against Michigan State on Dec. 27.
