5 things we learned from Minnesota's exhibition win over North Dakota

The Gophers took care of business in their final exhibition tune-up against North Dakota with a comfortable 82-62 win. Here are five things I learned before their regular-season opener on November 3 against Gardner-Webb.

Cade Tyson is the real deal

Tyson had a standout performance against North Dakota State with a game-high 28 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field. He had quite the encore on Saturday with 26 points on 9 of 13 shooting again. If there were any questions about whether he could return to the form he had a Belmont, he has answered those pretty quickly. He looks like a heavy favorite to lead Minnesota in scoring this season.

Cade Tyson today against North Dakota

26 points
FGs: 9-13
3P: 4-6
4 rebounds
2 assists

He could end up being biggest transfer portal steal of the cycle.

pic.twitter.com/BSaYB1uvSk
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) October 25, 2025

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Chansey Willis Jr. is a Big Ten PG

Willis Jr. started for the second straight game alongside Asuma. He started a bit slow in last week's game against North Dakota State, but he looked far more impressive against the Fighting Hawks. Gophers fans are familiar with Asuma's prowess as a point guard, but they have two Big Ten-caliber point guards on their roster. With 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists, the Gophers' backcourt looks very intriguing.

Robert Vaihola's rebounding

Vaihola had a game-high 14 rebounds for Minnesota against the Bison. He was the Gophers' leading rebounder again on Saturday with seven rebounds against North Dakota. He averaged 7.5 rebounds per game last season at San Jose State, and it looks like that could translate to the Big Ten. He looks like a true five, despite being listed at only 6-foot-8.

Langston Reynolds off the bench

Reynolds took the most shots off the bench for the Gophers against NDSU with nine, but he only made two of those shots. He had a huge bounce-back performance against North Dakota with 17 points on a perfect six of six shooting from the field with four rebounds and four assists. He looks like a great sixth man option for the Gophers.

Nine-man rotation

The Gophers played a nine-man rotation for the second straight game with Reynolds, Bobby Durkin, Grayson Grove and B.J. Omot all seeing time off the bench. Grove played only 12 minutes, and Omot played 14. My biggest question heading into the regular season is the frontcourt rotation. Vaihola and Crocker-Johnson look like the real deal, but whether or not Grove is enough as the lone backup big is still unknown.