5 things we learned from Minnesota's blowout win over Alcorn State

The Gophers faced their second straight opponent who is rated outside of KenPom.com's top 300, and they delivered another dominating performance with a 95-50 win over Alcorn State. Here's what we learned from Minnesota's second win of the season.

17-0 run

After opening Monday's season on a 23-1 run, the Gophers got off to a similar start with a 17-0 run on Saturday against Alcorn State. The Braves didn't make their first field goal until the 12:30 mark of the first half. You can't make many big conclusions from games against Alcorn State and Gardner-Webb, but Medved is letting it known that Minnesota will not play with its food against inferior opponents under his tutelage.

Rotation

G: Isaac Asuma
G: Chansey Willis Jr.
F: Cade Tyson
F: Jaylen Crocker-Johnson
C: Robert Vaihola
6th: Langston Reynolds
7th: Bobby Durkin
8th: Nehemiah Turner
9th: Kai Shinholster

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Grayson Grove entered Saturday's game with a questionable tag, and he did not dress for the contest. Turner seemingly took his spot in the rotation as the first big man off the bench. Otherwise, it was the same starting lineup, and same rotation as Monday's game, with BJ Omot still out.

Chansey Willis Jr.

Willis was scoreless in Minnesota's season opener, but his teammates and head coach praised his hustle, despite recording only two rebounds and three assists. He had a much more productive game in the box score on Saturday with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. The Gophers' backcourt might be led by a different player every night with Asuma and Reynolds, but Willis will bring an interesting skill set to the table.

Vaihola and Crocker-Johnson's rebounding

One of Minnesota's biggest weaknesses coming into the season seemed to be size. Vaihola and Crocker-Johnson are their starting frontcourt, despite both only being 6-foot-8. It will be an interesting development to monitor as their competition improves, but both players combined for 29 rebounds on Saturday. Crocker-Johnson now has two straight double-doubles, after not having a single one last season at Colorado State.. He and Vaihola have looked like a Big Ten frontcourt so far.

More than just Cade Tyson

Tyson led Minnesota in scoring in both exhibition games, as well as Monday's season opener against Gardner-Webb. It looked like he was going to have a quieter night on Saturday, but he still led Minnesota with 21 points. The Gophers have leaned heavily on top players like Dawn Garcia in past seasons. With four different players in double figures, their performance against Alcorn State implies that they might be a much more balanced team in 2025-26 under Medved.