What we learned from the Gophers' shaky win over Fairleigh Dickinson

The Gophers looked like a team that hadn't played in eight days, but they took care of business with a 60-43 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson to wrap up nonconference play. Here's what we learned.

Gophers' backcourt needs to improve

With Chansey Willis Jr. out for the season, Reynolds has now started six games this season. He has scored at least 11 points in four of those games, but Monday night was another game where he showed very little offensive aggression. On the box score, he attempted zero first-half field goals. He was 2 of 5 from the free-throw line in 17 minutes. That is a concerning box score from a starting Big Ten guard.

Sophomore Isaac Asuma wasn't much better. He finished with only five points on 2 of 14 shooting from the field and 1 of 10 from three-point range. Niko Medved even brought in NAIA transfer guard Maximus Gizzi before garbage time to give Asuma a rest. The backcourt combined for seven points on 2 of 18 shooting from the field and the Gophers still somehow won by 17 points.

Bobby Durkin's season-high

Monday was Durkin's fifth start of the season, and arguably his best. He finished with a season-high 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field and 3 of 7 from three-point range. He looked uncomfortable coming off the bench to start the season, but he has seemingly regained his confidence in December. Minnesota becomes a much more dangerous offense if he continues to play at this level consistently.

Bobby Durkin knocks down a three on the fast break 🔥 @GopherMBB pic.twitter.com/wVKySQJpjm
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 30, 2025

Reason to be concerned?

Minnesota has been all over the place in games against Quad 4 opponents this season. It opened with wins by 27 and 45 points over Gardner-Webb and Alcorn State, but then wins by seven and 12 points against Green Bay and Chicago State. It looked like the Gophers might've turned a corner with a 36 and 28-point win over Texas Southern and Campbell, but they struggled to separate against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday.

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The Gophers beat the Knights by 17 points, but there might be a minimum of 150 programs in college basketball that Minnesota would've struggled to beat with the performance it had on Monday night.

Development of young players

Extended absences for B.J. Omot and Robert Vaihola, who were both out on Monday, have given Minnesota the opportunity to give more minutes to players like redshirt freshman Grayson Grove and true freshman Kai Shinholster. Neither player has put up huge numbers, but getting extended experience against Division-I opponents during this stretch feels like something that will pay off in the long run, and only time will tell how much.

Cade Tyson's season-low

Tyson scored at least 14 points in all 12 games before Monday, and at least 20 points in seven of them. He had only 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field against Fairleigh Dickinson, most of which came in garbage time. It was encouraging to see that Minnesota was still able to win comfortably without a big night from its star.