Can Brennan Rigsby provide Gophers needed secondary scoring punch?

Rigsby scored a season-high 15 points in Saturday's win over Yale.

Minnesota guard Brennan Rigsby (24) works around Yale guard John Poulakidas during the first half at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Nov. 16, 2024. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Brennan Rigsby came to Minnesota with experience after two seasons at Oregon, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a learning curve since joining the Gophers men’s basketball team.

Rigsby played in 57 games, and started 21, across his two seasons with the Ducks from 2022-24, but was never asked to shoulder the load. In both of those seasons, Oregon boasted three players with double-digit scoring averages. Last year, they technically had five, though two only played in five games. Through four games this season, the Gophers have one.

Gophers coach Ben Johnson needs Rigsby to embrace a different role at the U, a more aggressive role where he creates his own shot, gets downhill and puts the ball in the hoop. Johnson has presented the challenge not just to Rigsby, but to the whole team. At halftime on Saturday against Yale, Johnson told his team they needed to be more aggressive. He said if one more player didn't turn the corner on a ball screen, they'd be subbed out. The message was received.

The Gophers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Bulldogs 59-56 at The Barn.

Rigsby has shown a willingness to take on that role, and his efforts on Saturday were key to the Gophers' victory. Rigsby scored a season-high 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. In the second half, Rigsby hit an early 3-pointer and got a floater in the paint as Minnesota opening the second frame on an 11-3 run and close the gap.

Rigsby's role also included guarding Bulldogs top scorer John Poulakidas, who finished with a team-best 21 points. But he limited him to 6-for-15 shooting, and three of those points came on a meaningless buzzer beater.

"Guys' roles were so different at their other spots. Not that it's good or bad, it's just different," Johnson said after Saturday's game. "And they were coached different. I'm not (Oregon coach) Dan Altman, so there's things that this team needs (Rigsby) to do that maybe he hasn't been asked to do before. And it just, if you haven't done it, it just takes time to be like, 'Am I really supposed to be doing this? You really want me to do this? I can shoot that?'"

The Gophers need their new additions to bring an additional scoring punch, particularly with Mike Mitchell Jr. sidelined for the next couple weeks. Dawson Garcia averages a team-best 25.5 points per game, but there's been little offense found elsewhere. Rigsby appears to be a player who can take on a scoring role. He's attempted the third-most shots on the team behind just Garcia and Lu'Cye Patterson, and he's currently the team's third-leading scorer behind those two at 7.5 ppg.

“I mean, it’s definitely a little different to what I’ve been playing, but I mean, I like it. Be able to use my athleticism, get downhill, try to get some scores and get that going," Rigsby said.

Finding offensive production as a team certainly won't all fall on Rigsby. Johnson noted how Patterson has continued to step into a more aggressive role, too, and praised Frank Mitchell for his efforts keeping possessions alive and Femi Odukale for his efforts getting downhill in the second half on Saturday. The group hasn't spent much time together yet. Johnson said as much as you'd like to see it click immediately, it'll take time for everyone to adapt to their new roles.

"The hardest part is that we all want it now, but it’s just such a work in progress," Johnson said. "And we just need to get game reps for guys to get comfortable."

The good news is that the Gophers are getting closer.

"It's really just one game away from seeing it. One practice away," Garcia when asked how close the offense is to clicking. "It's just continuing to stack the bricks and do the right things every single day knowing that eventually it'll come because we've got the talent."