MN Gophers Left Stunned by Badgers

Niko Medved is going to have plenty of challenges in his first year as head coach of the Minnesota Gophers. He’s working to clean up a mess left for him by fired coach Ben Johnson.

So far he has put a strong foot forward with ranked wins against Indiana and Iowa. Minnesota dropped a tough game against USC over the weekend, but there was still plenty on the line Tuesday night with Wisconsin in town.

For much of the contest it looked as though the Gophers would rack up another Big Ten victory. What happened to close it out was something nobody saw coming.

Crazy finish stuns Minnesota Gophers

The Barn was rocking all night on Tuesday. Despite students not yet being back for class until next week, the crowd was significantly louder than even the ranked matchup against Iowa last week. Wisconsin was well-represented, and that made the final back and forth that much more crazy.

Cade Tyson’s game-tying shot immediately wiped out by John Blackwell. pic.twitter.com/3BZio4pDKa

— Ted (@tlschwerz) January 14, 2026

With five seconds left, down by three, Cade Tyson rose up and nailed a three-pointer to tie things at 72. It had been a tough night for Minnesota’s leading scorer. He turned in just 14 points, and critical missed free throws down the stretch made him just 3-of-6 at the line. That bucket looked like a dagger though.

The Badgers quickly inbounded the ball to guard John Blackwell. He sprinted down the court and nailed a three of his own from left of the arch. Wisconsin had staved off the Gophers big shot and took down their rival on the road.

Minnesota led by seven points (35-28) at halftime, and largely controlled the momentum. It was a fast scoring pace out of the gate, and neither team seemed to back down from that tempo.

Wisconsin started to pull away with roughly seven minutes left in the second half, and the Gophers did themselves no favors at the charity stripe. Key buckets brought them back, and big nights from Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (20 pts) and Isaac Asuma (17 pts) were both huge.

Braeden Carrington returns to The Barn

Brooklyn Park native, and former Minnesota Gophers guard, Braeden Carrington returned to The Barn for the first time since transferring to Wisconsin. He initially left Johnson’s program for Tulsa, and was greeted by all of the boos while wearing the Badgers uniform.

Former Gophers guard, and Park Center product, Braeden Carrington is back at The Barn. pic.twitter.com/UNrmjknguh

— Ted (@tlschwerz) January 13, 2026

After arguably his best game with Wisconsin in knocking off #2 Michigan over the weekend, this one was always going to mean more. Carrington finished with a team-high 21 points. That also is a career best surpassing 20 point outings he had with Tulsa and Minnesota.

The Badgers sprinted around the court following Blackwell’s dagger, and a “let’s go Badgers” cheer rang out loudly postgame. Carrington and his new squad came into Gophers territory and knocked off Minnesota in an unimaginable fashion.

College basketball is certainly something else.