Kyan Evans wasted little time flashing why Minnesota brought him in.
In a 24-second burst Thursday night, the new Gophers point guard helped tilt the preseason opener in ways that went beyond the scoreboard. First came a fast-break pass to Isaac Asuma for a three. Then Evans picked Nebraska-Omaha forward Justin Bolis clean, took off, and finished the sequence with another transition basket.
It was the kind of two-way sequence that can change the feel of a game, even one that ended as a 72-52 exhibition win with no bearing on the standings. For Gophers coach Niko Medved, though, it offered something more valuable: a first look at Evans looking a lot like the player Medved remembers.
“I thought he looked more like the guy that I know,” Medved said. “He got us going on the defensive end. Fans can see he plays with great poise and vision and does a great job setting up his teammates.”
“I kind of know what he brings to the table,” Medved added. “We got to see a little bit of that here tonight.”
That was the clearest takeaway from a night that also started to answer a handful of questions about Medved’s second season with Minnesota, which opens Nov. 2 against North Dakota.
The biggest one centers on Evans and whether he can lift the Gophers’ offense into a different gear. Early signs were encouraging.
He finished with seven assists, and several of them came with style. He dropped an alley-oop to center Malick Kordel that got the crowd buzzing.
He created another steal-and-score moment when he slipped a behind-the-back pass to Kordel for a dunk. He later set up Kai Shinholster for a one-handed dunk on the break.
Even the passes that didn’t turn into points stood out. One crosscourt feed to Asuma led to a missed look, but it still showed the kind of vision Minnesota is hoping to lean on.
Evans said the fit has come naturally since joining Medved’s offense, which he already knew from his time with Medved at Colorado State. The North Carolina and Colorado State transfer spent two seasons there before reuniting with his former coach this offseason, and Thursday suggested that familiarity is starting to pay off.
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The bye week gave Minnesota a little extra time to reset before one of the biggest dates left on its schedule, a home rivalry meeting with Iowa at Huntington Bank Stadium. With six regular-season games to go, the Gophers are entering a stretch that will shape the rest of their season, and coach P.J. Fleck has already framed it as a demanding finish that includes rivalry games and ranked opponents, with plenty of respect reserved for Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz.
Minnesota also has some practical business to manage beyond the Hawkeyes, including a newly announced kickoff time for its Oct. 31 game at Indiana. But the more immediate concern is on offense, where a key piece has been grinding through the season without much room for error, and the Gophers will need that side of the ball to look sharper if they want to keep their bowl path in reach. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Enter The Stretch That Will Define Everything
Minnesota heads into its bye week sitting in a familiar spot for a team trying to sort out what it really is: good enough to flash against quality opponents, but not yet consistent enough to trust. The Gophers have already logged notable wins over Washington and Michigan, and those results are part of why the season still feels alive, even with the rougher performances that have come against Mississippi State and Purdue.
The break arrives at a useful time, because the next six weeks are the kind that can settle a teams identity one way or another. Iowa is up next after the pause, and for Minnesota, the stretch ahead will say a lot about whether those early highs were the start of something sustainable or just another reminder of how uneven this team has been so far. [Read more 🡒]