Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson opted for two exhibition games in October instead of one preseason game and one clandestine, closed scrimmage held in previous years. He wanted his vastly remade roster to get better acclimated to Williams Arena. The first exhibition game came Saturday against Division II Bemidji State, and Minnesota was not ready for the light of day in the first half. Getting outrebounded and leading only 41-40 at the break, the U struggled with a Beavers team that was 13-16 last season and has been picked to finish fifth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this winter. Minnesota’s defense tightened in the second half and the U ran away in a 90-65 victory. Veteran returnees Dawson Garcia, Parker Fox and Mike Mitchell helped turn it on. Mitchell had game-highs of 19 points and eight assists, Garcia added 15 points and Fox 14 points. “The first half of every (exhibition), I don’t care if I was player or you watch on TV, you just got to get through the first 20 minutes. It’s a nightmare,” Johnson said. “But that’s the reason why I wanted to play two exhibition games, kind of get an actual game in us, with the crowd, with the refs and the other team. The first half is what it is. Pretty standard. But it’s the response.” Minnesota had five kills — a set of three defensive stops in a row — in the second half, after only two in the first half. The U will play Division III Hamline on Oct. 29 at the Barn before the regular season starts at home against Oral Roberts on Nov. 6. Deep threat Brennan Rigsby, a transfer guard from Oregon, showed off a nice shooting stroke Saturday, going 3 for 6 from 3-point range, including one that was a step (or two) in from the block M logo. The senior finished with 17 points, also scoring in mid-range and with a springiness to get above the rim for dunks. “I try to not just score in one way, be one-dimensional,” Rigsby said. “It’s pretty easy (Saturday) when you have weapons like Dawson out there and Mike.” Rigsby shot 35% from deep for Ducks last year and can help the U replace what current Los Angeles Clippers guard Cam Christie did from behind the arc last year. Three injuries The Gophers played without three guards — Lu’Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale and Tyler Cochran. Two of which were news. Patterson has a shoulder injury and Odukale has a hip bruise, Johnson said postgame. Both are considered minor injuries. Ten days ago, Johnson shared Cochran will be out until approximately December after having surgery on his left foot earlier this month. “I didn’t want to risk anything,” Johnson said. “Get some other guys some opportunities.” Odukale, a transfer from New Mexico State, and Patterson, a transfer from Charlotte, might be ready for Hamline. Early rotations The Gophers’ first five were Mitchell, Garcia, Rigsby, Kadyn Betts and Canisius transfer forward Frank Mitchell. The first U players off the bench were Fox, true freshman Isaac Asuma and Texas-San Antonio transfer center Trey Edmonds. Asuma had eight points and eight assists in his first tune-up for the collegiate level. The Cherry, Minn., native looks like a likely rotation piece to start the season. The 6-8 Mitchell, who has slimmed down to 265 pounds, will be able to bang down low in Big Ten play and help fill the void left by Pharrel Payne. He had seven rebounds in 17 minutes. One big highlight Betts, a redshirt sophomore forward, had a posterizing dunk on Beavers forward John Sutherland in the first half but was issued a technical foul for shouting in Sutherland’s face afterward. Late in the second half, the 6-foot-8 forward hung in the air and finished through contact, but he couldn’t complete the 3-point play. After playing eight games last season, Betts might be stepping into a bigger role this year. His ability to guard small forwards will be key to him seeing the court more this season, Johnson said. Related Articles College Sports | Expected to finish last, Gophers’ Ben Johnson pushes back on Big Ten basketball preseason poll College Sports | Gophers transfer guard Tyler Cochran has surgery, out until December College Sports | Gophers men’s basketball picked to finish last in Big Ten Conference College Sports | Top basketball recruit Tommy Ahneman of Cretin-Derham Hall commits to Notre Dame College Sports | Gophers men’s basketball: Freshman guard Isaac Asuma draws comparison to Cam Christie