The Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson brought it up unprompted at the beginning of this season. Near this juncture last year, point guard Elijah Hawkins was benched during nonconference play before coming on strong in Big Ten play.

On Tuesday, Johnson went away from starting senior guard Lu’Cye Patterson in favor of true freshman Isaac Asuma down the stretch.

With starting guard Mike Mitchell out with an ankle injury, Asuma ran the point and chipped in 10 points in 30 minutes as Minnesota beat Cleveland State 58-49 on Tuesday at Williams Arena.

Minnesota (4-1) was a 14-point favorite and buckled down defensively, not allowing Cleveland State (3-2) to score in the final four minutes.

The U came into Saturday with the lowest scoring offense in the Big Ten at 64.5 points per game, but the second-highest scoring defense in the conference at 57.8. Both numbers were enhanced Tuesday.

Asuma looked more comfortable on the floor in his fifth collegiate game than a couple of fifth-year senior transfers in Patterson and Femi Odukale. Patterson played only 16 minutes, missing all five of his shots. Odukale also struggled from the field, going 1 for 7, along with six turnovers, but he stayed on the floor and finished with 12 rebounds in 34 minutes.

Eighth-year senior Parker Fox scored 18 points, the most he has scored in maroon and gold. The Mahotomedi native put up 16 against IUPUI last December. His energy plays were especially helpful in a sluggish first half.

In the last three games, the Gophers trailed Omaha by three, North Texas by nine and Yale by 10 at the half, but Fox kept that from happening for a fourth straight nonconference game.

The senior was left unguarded and hit a deep, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put Minnesota up 31-29 at the break. While the half ended with positivity, the majority included long droughts and slogs.

Minnesota missed its first five shots in the opening three minutes and had another four-minute drought with more turnovers than buckets.

Transfer guard Brennan Rigsby stepped up in lieu of Mitchell in the first half with 10 points, fueled by a pair of triples.

Dawson Garcia, who is averaging 25 points per game, was limited to six on 1 of 3 shooting in the first half.

Rigsby and Garcia each finished with 10 points.

Minnesota was without three total guards: Tyler Cochran (foot), Caleb Williams (illness) and Mitchell.

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