Medved’s New Gophers Shock Ranked Hoosiers

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Isaac Asuma - Minnesota Gophers men's basketball
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team entered their 2025-26 Big Ten opener on Wednesday against the No. 22 ranked Indiana Hoosiers looking like the college basketball experts around the country projected them to before the season began.

So after the 3-3 Gophers traveled to California for the Acrisure Invitational, and lost to two quality opponents in Stanford and Santa Clara, expectations entering conference play on Wednesday were NOT high. And that was before news broke that they lost their starting point guard to a season-ending injury.

Then, the game vs Indiana — who, just in case I didn’t mention a couple of paragraphs ago, came in ranked No. 22 in the nation — tipped off. And at that point, whatever was plaguing the Minnesota Gophers basketball team was seemingly fixed.

Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball pulls massive upset vs Indiana

Not only did Minnesota shoot 49% from the field, 38% from three point range, and absolutely DOMINATE the rebounding battle, 40-25 — but they fended off late Hoosier runs and eventually got the only statistic that matters. A win, shocking one of the best teams in the Big Ten, 73-64, to open the conference season.

All five starters scored in double-figures, lead by Cady Tyson and Langston Reynolds, who both poured in 17 points apiece. Tyson also added 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Earlier this week, Niko Medved found himself trying to navigate some choppy waters with fans and media., following the Gophers third-straight loss of the season.

On his coach’s show Monday, the newly-hired head coach tried to assure fans that this was all part of the process to rebuilding the University of Minnesota men’s basketball program, pleading for the diehards still following this team to hang with him through what was shaping up to be a difficult first season.

I’m not sure if he expected the turnaround to happen immediately, and surely there will be a lot more growing pains to endure this season. But on Wednesday, that’s exactly what he got.

Cade Tyson leads the way for Minnesota starting five

The offense was far from perfect. A quick peek at the box score will tell you that much. Minnesota gave the ball away 16 times, to Indiana’s 7… but the Gopher defense made up for those issues on the other side of the court by forcing 6 steals and blocking 7 Hoosier shots.

For most of tonight’s game, things seemed to go right. The most important players contributed. Sophomore guard out of Cherry, MN, Isaac Asuma put up 15 points, while also contributing 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored 11 of his own and tied Asuma for the team-high in rebounds (7). He also blocked 3 shots.

Related: Homegrown Former Gopher Stretchered Off Court Following Ugly Injury

After easily winning the first two games of Niko Medved’s career — 87-60 over Garner-Webb | 95-50 over Alcorn State — the Golden Gophers were slammed back to reality when they traveled to SEC country for game three of their 2025-26 season.

Missouri was a late add by Medved, to the Gophers’ schedule. Before the game became official, the new head coach expressed a need to get at least one road game vs a tournament-caliber team to their non-conference.

Believe in Niko Medved and this NEW MN Gophers MBB program

Be careful what you wish for, because the Tigers destroyed the Gophers 83-60, in a beatdown that seemed to rattle Minnesota’s confidence. After the loss, they went back home and struggled to pull out victories that were way too close against Green Bay (72-65) and Chicago State (66-54), before getting handled by San Francisco.

And that all came BEFORE the Acrisure Invitational debacle. But that’s the funny thing about sports. Every game is a new game, a new opportunity. On Wednesday night vs Indiana, Niko Medved and his new squad of ragtag Golden Gophers seized that opportunity and turned it into a core memory for his new program.

And just as a bonus… the new head coach is now 1-0 all-time in Big Ten play.

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