Photo by Samantha Davis Minnesota State University redshirt freshman Colton Benson receives a pass from a teammate during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men’s basketball game against Southwest Minnesota State University on Dec. at the R/A Fa- cility in Marshall. Benson started the game and finished with 12 points and five rebounds for the Mavericks in the 78-66 loss to th Mustangs.

NEW ULM — Last season at this time, Colton Benson was working rehabbing his broken right foot that pretty much shelved his freshman basketball season at Minnesota State.

“For three months I was working with the trainers every day trying to get back to 100 percent,” said Benson, who scored 2,207 career points at New Ulm High School and is the City of New Ulm’s All-Time career boys scoring leader. “I did some rehab — last year was the first time that I had missed basketball because of an injury.”

Benson said that it was a setback.

“It was not how I expected to college basketball, but I think that overall it was nice to have the year to get back to 100 percent,” he said. “And it gave me the chance to learn the ropes of college basketball. So in a way it was a curse and a blessing.”

Benson said that the injury made him work harder than usual.

“I had the mindset that I am starting off worse than some of my teammates, so I really have to put my head down and work harder,” Benson said.

Benson’s foot injury had him go through a BFR treatment.

“It was a Blood Flow Restriction and it cut off the blood flow to my [right] leg, and then have to do workouts with that leg without the blood flow,” he said. “So my muscles had to work a little harder and that was by far the worst part of the rehab.”

When that part was done, Benson got back to working on his game.

“Every day I worked on my game — I made sure to get my shots up. Myself and my coaches talked a lot about what my role would be on the team would be looking like for this year,” he said. “I did a ton of work in the weight room and that was the hardest thing that I worked on in the offseason — I was in the weight room five days a week.

“Plus my overall awareness of the game — the game has really slowed down now and I am seeing things on the court that I did not last year,” added Benson. “I see cutting lanes a lot better and the flow of the game. And I am getting into my shot a lot better because I am reading defenses better.”

Benson has had two 18-point games this season — one against Henderson State and one against Winona State.

“Every game has a different flow to it and I can tell early what kind of game it is going to be.”

That offseason hard work has paid off for Benson, who is a red-shirt freshman as he has started all 14 games for the Mavericks.

And Benson’s basketball DNA — as it was in high school — is his ability to hit the 3-point shot.

“That is my bread and butter,” said the 6-foot-6 Benson, who said he put up between 1,000 to 2,000 3-point shots a week in the offseason.

As of last Friday, Benson has made 25 of 65 shots from beyond the arc for a .385 percentage.

He is also shooting .438 percent from the field and is averaging 9.4 points a game.

And he has worked on his defense in the offseason.

“Me in my position, I am not terribly athletic, so I focus on being a really good positional defender,” he said. “Being in the right pace at the right time. That comes from studying the game and being around it.”

Benson said that he has to work on being a more well-rounded player.

“Right now I am out there for the 3-point shots, cutting and keeping good spacing,” he said. “Next year I want to be improved to be more well-rounded. I want to be able to drive when I need to drive-pass and make the next play easier.”

Benson, who has always set his goals high (becoming the all-time boys scorer in New Ulm), has high goals at Minnesota State.

“You have to set your goals high so an NSIC [Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference] title, and if I could lead the NSIC in shooting. You always set your goals high — you shoot for the moon. Be a solid basketball player.”