Mike Mitchell Jr. out, Dawson Garcia questionable for Gophers-North Texas

Minnesota will be very banged up for Wednesday night's game.

Nov 9, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (2) grabs his leg after an injury during the second half against the Omaha Mavericks at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota men's basketball team will host North Texas Wednesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis in its most important nonconference home game of the season. The Gophers will be without veteran guard Mike Mitchell Jr., and star forward Dawson Garcia heads into the matchup questionable.

Mitchell suffered a scary ankle injury in the team's narrow win over Omaha on Saturday, which resulted in him getting carried into the locker room. It sounds like his status will be "week to week" going forward.

"The good thing is there was no break or anything significant. You could say it would be four weeks, but it could really be two," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. "It just depends on what type of healer he is. We know we won’t have him for this week and probably next week.”

A large portion of Minnesota's roster will be banged up heading into Wednesday's game. Garcia is questionable with a groin injury, and Johnson mentioned that he did not practice on Monday but did go through drills on Tuesday.

“I’ve learned quickly there’s very little I can control. Best case scenario, you have to think short term and long term," Johnson said. "We definitely want to be smart with something like that. If he can go, great, that means he’s feeling good. If he can’t, we’ll figure it out like we always have.”

The injury report does not stop there. Johnson hopes that Canisius transfer big man Frank Mitchell will be a game-time decision. He is recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered in the team's second exhibition win over Hamline, but he has still not made his Minnesota debut.

Forward Kadyn Betts is dealing with a heel injury, and Macalester transfer guard Caleb Williams remains out with mononucleosis. That leaves six scholarship players with no injury designation, leaving out Grayson Grove, who Johnson announced was redshirting this season on Saturday.

Johnson's tenure as head coach has seen Minnesota deal with a multitude of injuries every single season. This year is no different as they're now facing serious adversity less than two weeks into the campaign.