MN Gophers Go Big Game Hunting, Shock Sparty

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Niko Medved, Minnesota Gophers
Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Niko Medved was brought in to clean up the mess that Ben Johnson left for the Minnesota Gophers. That was always going to be difficult in year one, even if he was clearly a better coach. But, it’s happening sooner than we thought…

At this point, the Minnesota roster has been gutted by significant injuries to multiple scholarship players, and Medved has been forced to run basically a 5-6 man rotation. To their credit, the Gophers have played spoiler in some big games already this season.

They added another marquee victory to the ledger on Wednesday night, knocking off Tom Izzo’s 10th ranked Michigan State Spartans.

Ranked Michigan State falls to Minnesota Gophers

Niko Medved had coached the Minnesota Gophers to ranked victories over Indiana, and Iowa so far this season entering tonight. Both resulted in court stormings at The Barn, but they were recently left stunned by Wisconsin, and flopped against an 0-10 Penn State team. However, with #10 Michigan State in town tonight, the Gophers brought their magic again.

The Barn has shown up and shown out at different times this season. While Ben Johnson limped to just a 15-17 (7-13) record in his final year in Dinkytown, the fanbase seems to understand that the page is being turned.

Medved has been vocal all year about the level of support he has seen, and how much the crowds matter in key contests. Minnesota could’ve pouted following a 77-75 loss against Penn State (a seventh straight on the season), but instead they stopped the bleeding there.

Tom Izzo will go down as one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, and his teams are always tough to face. The Spartans came in to the Barn 19-3 (9-2), only to be upset by a Minnesota team under .500. Michigan State’s only other losses this season came to teams that have all been ranked in the top five (Duke, Nebraska, Michigan).

While the Minnesota Gophers continue to show maturity beyond their years, the same can’t be said for some of the Michigan State talent. Spartans star guard Jeremy Fears not only was limited to just 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting, but he followed through with yet another cheap shot. Izzo said he’s not sure whether the junior guard will start next game noting that he’s, “gotta grow up a little bit.”

Gritty MN Gophers keep showing up

Scholarship talent has dwindled with the Gophers continuing to lose players to injury, but the team just keeps going next man up. Cade Tyson led the way early this season, but it has since become the Jaylen Crocker-Johnson show. After allowing Michigan State to bring the deficit down from 18 points to 2, Minnesota finally made a few clutch free throws to close it out.

“Our guys showed a ton of toughness. It got hairy down the stretch as you can imagine, but ultimately we made enough free throws, and we just made those last couple plays. I’m so proud of them. You know how many close games we’ve been in. They just keep battling. Didn’t let them get it down, they fought their tails off, they earned this one here tonight.”

Niko Medved

All five of the Minnesota Gophers starters played at least 35 minutes. Crocker-Johnson led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds. Tyson poured in 17 points and had a pair of assists while Langston Reynolds had eight dimes on his own.

Both Grayson Grove (11 minutes) and Kai Shinholster (6 minutes) continue to get valuable time off the bench. Neither scored tonight, but the freshman tandem has been forced into the fire due to injuries, and they are growing up quickly this season.

Minnesota is back in action on Saturday against the Maryland Terrapins. The win pushes them to 11-12 (4-8) on the season.

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