The Gophers' men’s basketball team saw their hopes unravel in the second half against Rutgers on Wednesday. Despite a promising start, Minnesota stumbled with a series of turnovers, allowing the Scarlet Knights to seize control and secure a 72-67 victory in the second round of the Big Ten tournament at Chicago's United Center.
With this win, the 14th-seeded Scarlet Knights (14-18) advance to face sixth-seed UCLA on Thursday night. Meanwhile, the 11th-seeded Gophers (15-17) are left waiting to see if their season will continue in a lower-tier national tournament.
Minnesota held a 52-47 lead with nine minutes left on the clock, but that’s when the turnover troubles began. The Gophers committed 15 turnovers in total, five more than their season average, which proved costly.
Head coach Niko Medved expressed his frustration on KTLK-AM’s postgame show: “We haven’t really done that in a long time. Fifteen turnovers, especially in a game with fewer possessions, really doesn’t give you a chance. It’s been uncharacteristic.”
Rutgers guard Tariq Francis was a standout, causing headaches for the Gophers by scoring 29 points on 9 of 16 shooting, including 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
The Gophers had a narrow 31-29 lead at halftime but struggled to contain Francis, who found openings in Minnesota’s 2-3 zone defense. This issue echoed their regular season finale against Northwestern when Nick Martinelli exploited similar gaps, though Minnesota managed to win that game.
In the first half on Wednesday, Francis led all scorers with 16 points, hitting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Grayson Grove was Minnesota’s top performer in the first half, scoring 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting.
Back on February 21, the Gophers had dominated Rutgers 80-61 at Williams Arena, with Cade Tyson leading the charge with 27 points. On this occasion, Tyson again led Minnesota with 24 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Scarlet Knights.