What we learned from Minnesota's dominant win over Texas Southern

After wrapping up the toughest part of their early-season schedule, Minnesota returned home on Sunday for a dominant 89-53 win over Texas Southern. Here's what we learned.

Cade Tyson's career-high

When Tyson scored 20 or more points in four of Minnesota's first five games, it was clear that he would probably lead the team in scoring, but four of those games came against low-major opponents. We're now more than 10 games into the regular season, and he looks like he could average more than 20 points per game for the season.

The last Gophers player to do that for a full season was Daniel Oturu in 2019-20, when he averaged 20.1 points. Tyson averaged 21.1 per game entering Sunday's game, and he exploded for 23 first-half points before finishing with a career-high 38 points on 11 of 19 shooting from the field with a season-high 11 rebounds.

Cade Tyson today against Texas Southern

38 points (career-high)
FGs: 11-19
3P: 8-12
FTs: 8-11
11 rebounds
3 assists

pic.twitter.com/kQUHEnwSFf
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) December 14, 2025

Short rotation

G: Isaac Asuma
G: Langston Reynolds
F: Bobby Durkin
F: Cade Tyson
C: Jaylen Crocker-Johnson
6th: Kai Shinholster
7th: Grayson Grove

Minnesota remained without Robert Vaihola and B.J. Omot on Sunday, and Niko Medved opted for one of his shortest rotations of the season. Shinholster was first off the bench, and it took 12:19 until Grove came off the bench as Minnesota's seventh man. It's clear that Medved and his staff want to see what the starting lineup has before the calendar flips to 2026.

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Grayson Grove's foul trouble

Grove has been thrust into being Minnesota's top reserve frontcourt player this season as a redshirt freshman. Without Vaihola, he has averaged 15.8 minutes per game before Sunday, but he has averaged 3.4 fouls per game. Without much depth, you sometimes need someone to come in and be physical, but his foul trouble continued against Texas Southern with three quick fouls in only three first-half minutes.

Who's the third option?

Tyson and Crocker-Johnson have established themselves as the Gophers' two most consistent scorers, but the No. 3 option is seemingly different every night. Reynolds has averaged the third-most points at 10.6 entering Sunday's game, but he finished with zero points, and he attempted only two field goals.

Asuma and Durkin are two more options to see expanded roles with Chansey Willis Jr., Vaihola and Omot out. Asuma was third on the team with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting against the Tigers, followed by Durkin with 12 points. The emergence of a consistent third option might determine how much success Minnesota has in conference play this season.

Playmaking

Minnesota assisted every single field goal it had for much of Sunday's game. The final stats were 28 made field goals and 27 assists as a team. Reynolds led the way with a career-high 10 assists. It was arguably the most complete offensive performance of the season for Minnesota this season.