Gophers basketball fans are holding their breath after starting center Frank Mitchell suffered an apparent shoulder injury in the first half of Minnesota’s 79-57 victory over Division III Hamline on Tuesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Mitchell, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Canisius, dived for a loose ball about four minutes into the game, and a Hamline player scrambling for the ball also landed on top of him. Mitchell left the field before returning to the bench with his shoulder wrapped in ice and was eventually placed in a sling.

It is unclear whether Mitchell’s injury is serious, but Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson called it a “minor setback” in his postgame comments on the game.

“It makes me sick, I’m going to kill myself this time because I was yelling at him to do the right thing on a loose ball. It’s unfortunate. He was playing really well, playing with tons of energy,” Johnson said. “He did everything to get himself to this point and if he had a little setback, “You feel sorry for him,” he said. “That part bugs me a little bit. But I think it speaks to what this team is about. Always playing the right way, and that was an instinctive play from him.”

Without Mitchell, the Gophers relied on fellow big man transfer Trey Edmonds, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

“I thought Trey played pretty well once he got his act together a little bit. Defensively he was really good,” Johnson said. “It’s time for him to step up.”

The Gophers will open the regular season at home against Oral Roberts on Nov. 6.