Opening-night win gives Gophers hope during Maurice Walker's suspension
MINNEAPOLIS -- The suspension for junior big man Maurice Walker had only been announced hours before Friday night's regular-season opener for the University of Minnesota men's basketball team, but Elliott Eliason and the rest of the Gophers had known for a few days they would likely be without Walker.
Already a guard-centric team, Minnesota will have to make do without Walker for six games. For one night, Eliason was plenty prepared to step forward and handle the bulk of responsibility inside.
Eliason, a junior center, posted the first double-double of his college career, transfer Joey King stepped up with a team-high 20 points and the Gophers gave new coach Richard Pitino a win in his debut by beating LeHigh 81-62 on Friday night.
"We're just behind him 100 percent, there's no doubt about it," King said of losing Walker. "We're all family in here and we support him through this process. Whether or not we have him, of course it's a loss of a big man, but we just had to come out with who we had and give it our all and I think that's what we did. We came out with a good win and a good start to our season."
Without Walker, Eliason responded to the challenge, falling one point shy of his career-high with 11 points and pulling down 17 rebounds in 28 minutes. Not only are the Gophers trying to make up for the loss of Walker, but they were already short-handed a bit in the frontcourt after losing Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams off of last year's NCAA Tournament team.
"You know, I didn't think so, but it's sweet that it's here now," Eliason said of waiting for his first double-double. "I had it in the back of my mind that (Mbakwe) had 18 rebounds last time. So I was trying to beat him or at least match him. Kind of wish I got one more roll my way. So, next time, another time."
Eliason started both of the team's exhibition games, but Walker was the top backup inside. Without the 6-foot-10 Walker, Minnesota still out-rebounded LeHigh 38-35. King, a late transfer from Drake, shot 6 of 10 from the field, but only had one rebound.
"Joey was really good," Pitino said. "His biggest thing, Joey, is rebounding and he only had one rebound in 27 minutes of play. But he'll get there because he's extremely willing to work. And it's not like he's not trying. He blamed Elliott for stealing all his rebounds, I don't know if that was the case or not."
He wasn't the same threat on the boards as Walker, but King added energy and scoring when the Gophers needed them on Friday.
LeHigh won 21 games last season, but lost C.J. McCollum to the NBA as the No. 10 overall draft pick this summer. Yet, after trailing by as many as 24 early in the second half, LeHigh closed within 12 at 48-36 before King and guard Andre Hollins put the game out of reach.
"He's aggressive," said Hollins, who added 18 points. "He's a competitor, and I really like that about him. He's that guy that you don't want to play against, so I'm glad I'm playing with him."
Eliason is stepping up in the middle after the offseason loss of Mbakwe and Williams. King, a Minnesota native, was a late arrival, his transfer from Drake approved just before the start of the exhibition season. Together they were making up for yet another loss in the post for the Gophers.
"Joey played great, Elliot played great, that's the focus we need," Hollins said. "Sometimes people are going to be out. They're going to get injured. They're going to get tired. They're going to get in foul trouble, and I like the way we responded tonight."
Pitino said he wants to see more rebounding from King, but was pleased he stayed out of foul trouble. The 6-foot-9 King didn't commit a personal foul, which Pitino said was more impressive on Friday because King "thinks he's playing football half the time."
Friday was just the first game for Minnesota, with five more to fill-in for Walker, including the opener of the Maui Invitational later this month against Syracuse. Friday's performance in the post gives the Gophers more hope for life without Walker.
"That's a big obstacle," Pitino said. "The front court's got to continue to get better and they're willing to do it, that's what I love about them. But it's a gap. It's a hole we're going to have to fill, and we're going to have plug it every little way that we can. But the guys are willing to do it."
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