Minnesota hangs on to beat #22 Indiana 73-64

The 4-4 Minnesota Gophers beat undefeated Indiana 73-64 in their Big Ten opener. All five Gopher starters reached double-figures with Langston Reynolds and Cade Tyson each with 17. This was the first time Minnesota has defeated Indiana since 2019, snapping a 9-game losing streak.

THE STAT: All five starters played a TON of minutes. This happens when you lose two starters to injury (plus BJ Omot). Jalen Crocker-Johnson was the only starter under 37 minutes and that was because he was in foul trouble. Bobby Durkin played 37, Reynolds played 38, Isaac Asuma played 39 and Tyson played 40. Nehemia Turner, Kai Shinholster and Grayson Grove played valuable mintues off the bench, but they were very few minutes.

TURNING POINT: Minnesota took the lead, early in the second half, leading by three at the 16-minute mark. Then Nehemia Turner had a bad turnover, followed by a Langston Reynolds turnover and it appeared as though this was the turning point for Indiana. The Hoosiers took the lead and extended it to 43-40 with 13:47 remaining.

But Isaac Asuma and Tyson hit back-to-back threes with a stop in between and the Gophers gained the lead and confidence. They pushed the lead to eight and eventually to 10 as they held on and made clutch free throws to finish the game with the win.

HOT: Reynolds had his best game as a Gopher. He finished with 17 on 7/11 shooting and made some strong drives to the basket in the second half for key baskets. He also added five rebounds and four assists.

NOT: Tucker DeVries is the leading scorer for the Hoosiers and he struggled tonight. The senior 3/13 from the field and finished with nine points, he averages 22.4 points per game.

NOTABLE: Niko Medved is the first Gopher coach to start his Gopher career 1-0 in the Big Ten since Jim Molinari. A useless anecdote, but it is important to recognize how hard this Gopher team played and found a way to beat a good Indiana team.

UP NEXT: The team gets a week off before heading to #1 Purdue.