Men’s basketball: Gophers upset No. 22 Indiana 73-64 in Big Ten opener

Gophers men s basketball coach Niko Medved required to see the character of his shorthanded organization in the Big Ten opener against No Indiana on Wednesday Already amid a three-game nonconference losing streak what were the U players made of after the blow that starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr is out for the season with a broken foot A heck of a lot they evidenced as the Gophers upset the Hoosiers - at Williams Arena Minnesota - - Big Ten was eight-point underdogs against the previously undefeated Hoosiers - - Indiana was th in the country according to the KenPom analytics site while Minnesota had fallen way down the list to The stunning win came in Medved s first conference match at his alma mater I try not to get emotional Medved stated I m just so proud It s why you coach You do what you do to try to help young people respond and to see the way that they did is awesome From a personal level it s just feels unbelievable to have the crowd into it and the students That is what I grew yup with here that way This is a day that I ll remember We got to enjoy this You don t get to do this every day The Gophers took a - lead with Bobby Dunkin s -pointer with four minutes left but the Hoosiers went on a - run to put pressure on Minnesota Minnesota had eight scholarship players since they were also without starting center Robert Vaihola knee BJ Omot leg and Chance Stephens illness Then three Minnesota big men Jaylen Crocker-Johnson Grayson Grove and Nehemiah Turner battled foul trouble in the second half Crocker-Johnson scored five straight points with five minutes left but then picked up his fourth foul and had to take another seat The Hoosiers were a stronger -point shooting teams in the country this season making to rank st in the nation The Gophers held Indiana without a field goal for the final four minutes of the first half taking a - deficit to a - tie at the break That surge had the biggest crowd at The Barn so far this season on its feet as the Gophers went into he locker room Grayson Grove made impressive hustle plays in the middle of the first half After a bad pass from Langston Reynolds looked it it would be an easy dunk for Tucker DeVries Grove blocked it at the rim Then Grove ran the floor was fed the ball in the paint and drew a foul DeVries was listed to six points in the first half on -of- shooting Reynolds and Asuma contributed to him missing his first three treys In the first half Reynolds and Cade Tyson each had nine points for Minnesota The Hoosiers made their opening five shots but Minnesota got more disruptive and forced them to miss four of their next five as the U started to work its way back into the battle Related Articles Men s basketball With Chansey Willis Jr out for season what does Gophers rotation look like now Men s basketball Big Ten slate looks more daunting with Gophers struggling in nonconference play Men s basketball Gophers fall to Stanford Brothers in elbows Gophers Cade Tyson and Nuggets Hunter Tyson Men s basketball Gophers free-throw struggles prove costly in loss to San Francisco