Gophers men’s basketball team healthy, ready to go as it closes out nonconference slate | Brainerd Dispatch

“Anytime we can send guys home, I don’t care what the quote, unquote risk might be,” Johnson said. “I think that’s the right play. That’s what you do. Just tell them to be smart, which we’ve been really good at, and hope for the best.”

So far, things have worked out for the Gophers (10-1), who have come back from their holiday break healthy to prepare for their final nonconference game of the season, against Alcorn State (1-11) at Williams Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Other teams haven’t been so fortunate: positive COVID-19 cases have been forcing postponements and cancellations across all levels of the sporting landscape recently as case rates jump across the country. Johnson has been reminding his players of the risks and has been pleased with how his team has put itself in a position to continue to play.

“These guys have just been really mature about it. I think they obviously know that each game is precious. There’s no guarantees that you can reschedule or get them back,” Johnson said. “… There could very well be a chance at some point that we get hit like everybody, but if you can in your own bubble and control what you can control, it puts you in a better position to be healthy and be safe.”

While the Gophers’ Big Ten matchup against Illinois on Sunday could potentially be in jeopardy — the Illini’s game originally set for Wednesday was postponed due to positive cases within the program — the matchup with Alcorn State is still on for now.

And the Gophers aren’t looking past that.

“It’s another chance to play, and I think that’s the thing. When you see these numbers, there’s a lot of teams that wish they were in our position,” Johnson said. “They wish that they were getting ready to play a game, so we can’t take this for granted. You know you need to be hungry to go out and compete because, again, you never know when it could be taken away.”

The Gophers will have a chance to cap off their nonconference schedule without a loss on Wednesday. (Minnesota has played two Big Ten games, losing to Michigan State at home on Dec. 8 before winning at Michigan three days later.)

In their last game before the break, the Gophers trailed Green Bay at halftime before pulling away in the second half. But Johnson didn’t seem worried about a repeat of last Wednesday’s slow start, especially with what’s at stake in their final nonconference game, when the Gophers hit the court.

“I think it’ll be different this time,” he said. “… I kind of challenged them that this is a chance for us to go undefeated in our nonconference, and I don’t know if there’s a lot of people outside of the people in our room who thought that that was realistic. But now it’s a chance to go undefeated in the nonconference, which to me is a big deal.”