The Martlet

The UVic men’s basketball team kicked off its pre-season against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sept. 5, giving the Big 10 conference team a run for their money in the first half.

The Vikes played neck and neck with the Gophers, going into the break down 42-40. After that, it was all Gophers, as they outscored UVic 59-27 en route to a 101-67 victory.

In the thrilling opening half, a sold out McKinnon Gym watched Vikes’ guard Ryan MacKinnon continually drive around Gophers defenders to score 11 points. MacKinnon was guarded much of the night by projected 2011 NBA lottery-pick Rodney Williams, but the Vikes’ guard more than held his own. MacKinnon finished with 12 points.

The Vikes jumped out to a 24-16 lead after the opening quarter, the first time the Gophers trailed during their trip to Canada.

“We couldn’t guard their motion offence in the first half. We had a lot of problems, five different guys hit three pointers on us,” said Gophers coach Tubby Smith.

For Victoria coach Craig Beaucamp, entering his eighth season with the Vikes, it was a great opportunity to look at his team against top competition.

“I think we did a lot of things well, for a while, in that first half,” said Beaucamp.

The Vikes came into the game with a new offence, and with just five team practices under their belts Beaucamp was pleased with the effort.

“I think we did a great job with the offence in the first half; we were hitting shots, really moving the ball.”

It also gave Beaucamp his first in-game look at a few of his new players. Six Vikes were making their debut against Minnesota, including first-year guard Reese Pribilsky, forward Ted Neilson and American transfer swingman Craig Lee.

“They were probably a little awestruck against such a good team, but [Pribilsky], [Neilson], [Lee], they looked good once they settled in,” said Beaucamp.

Minnesota, who has participated in the last two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments, is one of the best teams to ever visit Vancouver Island.

Coached by an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA champion, the Gophers have had three straight 20-plus win seasons since Smith moved from the University of Kentucky to Minnesota.

The win against the Vikes wrapped up a three-game trip through B.C. for Minnesota. Prior to the UVic stop, they beat both UBC and Trinity Western. After the UVic game, Smith sung the praises of the Vikes and Canadian basketball as a whole.

“We saw a great variety of styles here. Victoria ran a Princeton-style motion offence, with a lot of back screens, and we had a hard time with that. Trinity was like a Big 10 team, really physical, and UBC, they were really athletic. We responded adequately.”

While the Gophers might be the best team to visit Victoria, Williams might be the best player to play basketball on the Island since Steve Nash. He finished with 12 points and six rebounds, and brought the house down with a pair of high-flying dunks, the second of which gave Minnesota its first lead.

Canadian Gopher Devoe Joseph led all scorers with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Joseph, from Pickering, Ontario, got hot from beyond the arc, going five-for-eight from three-point territory.

Gopher Blake Hoffarber also had 19 points. Colton Iverson–12 points, seven rebounds–and Trevor Mbakwe–12 points, 6 rebounds– rounded out five Gophers in double-digits.

Jeff Cullen led the Vikes with 13 points, shooting 50 per cent from the field.

The Vikes are coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs after losing a tie-breaking coach’s vote to Lethbridge. With a full eight weeks to go until a meaningful game, the Vikes have ample time to strengthen any weaknesses they have.

“To be honest I think we have to work on everything. There’s nothing we’re perfect at yet. But I was very pleased with how our new offence looked,” said Beaucamp.