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Freshmen combine for 40 points as Gophers move to 2-0

Jaden Henley, Pharell Payne and Josh Ola-Joseph played well in the win.

Joe Nelson

Freshmen combine for 40 points as Gophers move to 2-0
Freshmen combine for 40 points as Gophers move to 2-0 /

Jaden Henley led the Gophers with 16 points while Pharell Payne and Josh Ola-Joseph each scored 12 points as Minnesota cruised by St. Francis Brooklyn 72-54 Friday night in non-conference basketball. 

Jamison Battle, Minnesota's returning leading scorer, missed his second straight game and is considered week-to-week after undergoing foot surgery in late October. That meant a second game featuring a starting lineup of Ta'Lon Cooper, Will Ramburg, Henley, Dawson Garcia and Treyton Thompson.  

The starters, led by 16 from Henley and 11 from Garcia, combined for 40 points. The bench totaled 32 points, led by the 24 combined from Payne and Ola-Joseph and eight from Taurus Samuels. 

Payne and Ola-Joseph hooked up for a smooth pass and dunk in the first half, and Ola-Joseph later threw down a monstrous right-handed slam. 

Up next: Gophers vs. DePaul on Monday at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network. 

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17. 

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