MINNEAPOLIS -- Gophers forward Oto Osenieks couldn't buy a bucket from downtown last season, but the Latvia native kept shooting anyway.
He finished the year an abysmal 2-for-26 from 3-point range -- yes, 7.7 percent. But through two games this season, Osenieks has proven himself to be a much-improved shooter. With two more 3-pointers in Tuesday's 84-58 win over Montana, Osenieks has now doubled his 3-point output from a season ago.
"I'm really comfortable in coach (Richard) Pitino's system," Osenieks said following Tuesday's victory. "He doesn't care about missed shots, so I've been shooting with a lot of confidence."
The same could be said for the rest of the Gophers, who connected on 11 shots from downtown against the Grizzlies as Minnesota proved Tuesday that it has a handful of players who can connect from long distance. Pacing the way was junior guard Andre Hollins, who was 3-for-7 from 3-point range. DeAndre Mathieu was a perfect 2-for-2 from long distance, while Malik Smith, Wally Ellenson, Austin Hollins and Charles Buggs all hit once from three.
It's just two games into the 2013-14 season, but Pitino's team looks like one that should be able to hit from long distance at a better rate than last year's Gophers squad that shot 33.7 percent from 3-point range.
"I think our fours can shoot the ball. I think our ones, twos and threes (can shoot)," Pitino said. "I don't think there's any guy on the team that can't shoot the ball. Certainly, you're not going to make 11 threes, but I do believe we are a very good shooting team."
Buggs, a redshirt freshman, even got in on the 3-point shooting, banking in a bucket from downtown as the shot clock expired. It marked the first points of his young Gophers career as he played just two minutes against Lehigh in the season opener and didn't score.
The shot Buggs heaved up late in the second half wasn't pretty, but the three points counted just the same.
"I think banks close after seven," Osenieks joked of Buggs' shot off the glass.
Minnesota's identity under Pitino's system is a quick-tempo offense, one that won't hesitate to take the first open shot. At times on Tuesday, that was the 3-pointer. In all, the Gophers shot 25 times from downtown, the same number of attempts they had in the season opener Friday against Lehigh.
A season ago under Tubby Smith, Minnesota averaged just over 16 shots a game from 3-point range. Already, the Gophers have shown that number very well may go up under Pitino.
"I think we shoot it really well already," said Mathieu, who made one 3-pointer in each half as part of his 15-point effort. "Guys like Malik haven't got it going yet. Mav (Ahanmisi) hasn't gotten it going yet, so those guys will get it going, too, and we'll be really good. Dre and Austin shoot it well, Joey (King) shoots it well, Oto shoots it well. We really shoot it well."
One of the biggest differences between this year's team and last year's is that Minnesota now has forwards who can shoot the ball. Last Friday it was King, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the Gophers' season-opening win. On Tuesday, it was Osenieks and Ellenson.
Of course, Minnesota will still rely heavily on its guards when it comes to 3-point shooting, namely Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins. The former led the Gophers in that department last year, connecting on 41.8 percent of his shots from outside. He's showing that Pitino's system encourages him to shoot more; he took seven 3-pointers in Tuesday's win, making three of them.
"I have to be aggressive," said Hollins, who earlier Tuesday was one of 50 players on the James Naismith Award preseason list. "A lot of teams are going to come out on me; I might attract two or three people. It'd be better shooting the ball sometimes and having Elliott (Eliason) and Oto on the boards and getting easy layups."
Minnesota found success from downtown on Tuesday, but the Gophers also defended the three well on the other end of the court. Montana was 12-for-19 in an exhibition win late last month, a stat that caught Minnesota's attention leading up to their regular-season tilt.
"I was concerned about that," Pitino said. "They're a very good shooting team. … I thought overall we did a pretty good job for them to hit six, and I think they banked one from the corner, which we'll give to them."
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