Meet The Opponent: Indiana Welcomes Minnesota To Start Big Ten Play

Minnesota’s visit is an opportunity for Indiana to start its Big Ten slate right … or very wrong.

Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) shoots as Bethune-Cookman Wildcats forward Jesus Carralero Martin (12) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s men’s basketball team begins Big Ten play as it hosts Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. ET on Monday.

In one sense, it’s a gift-wrapped opportunity for the Hoosiers to start conference play right – Minnesota is picked to finish last in the Big Ten and has already lost four games.

In another sense, it’s a possible trap for the Hoosiers. A loss to the Golden Gophers would be a very bad one – both on the resume and in the Big Ten standings.

Minnesota has yet to play a true road game. In its one Big Ten game, the Gophers were humbled at home 90-72 by Michigan State.

The Gophers have not won in Bloomington since 2012. Big man Dawson Garcia is a familiar name, but Minnesota is seemingly in a constant state of rebuilding.

All of the above lead to this being a game that will be perceived – correctly – as a victory that Indiana should be able to get at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Will they? We’ll see. Here's a breakdown of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Key players

Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (2) passes as Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

- F Dawson Garcia: 19 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.9 apg

- G Lu’Cye Patterson: 10 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.9 apg

- G Mike Mitchell Jr.: 10 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 4.7 apg

- F Parker Fox: 7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.7 apg

- G Brennan Rigsby: 6.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.1 apg

- G Isaac Asuma: 5.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg

- G Femi Odukale: 4.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.4 apg

- F Trey Edmonds: 4.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.2 apg

- F Frank Mitchell: 4 ppg, 4 rpg, 0.6 apg

2024-25 Schedule (6-4, 0-1)

- W, 80-57 Oral Roberts, Nov. 6

- W, 68-64 Omaha, Nov. 9

- L, 54-51 North Texas, Nov. 13

- W, 59-56 Yale, Nov. 16

- W, 58-47 Cleveland State, Nov. 19

- W, 68-65 Central Michigan, Nov. 25

- L, 68-66, OT, Wichita State, Nov. 28 – ESPN Events Invitational

- L, 57-51, Wake Forest, Nov. 29 – ESPN Events Invitational

- W, 79-62, Bethune-Cookman, Dec. 1

- L, 90-72 Michigan State, Dec. 4

Series history

Indiana leads 109-69. Indiana has won eight straight in the series dating to 2019. The Golden Gophers have not won in Bloomington since 2012.

Head coach: Ben Johnson

Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson answers questions during a post game interview after the game against the Yale Bulldogs at Williams Arena. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Like Mike Woodson at Indiana, Ben Johnson is in his fourth season with the Gophers. Johnson has a 47-58 record – though Johnson comes off his best season as Minnesota won 19 games in 2024.

A Minneapolis native, Johnson is one of the few pre-portal era players to play for two Big Ten institutions. He began his career at Northwestern from 1999-01 and finished at Minnesota from 2002-04. Between the two institutions, Johnson scored 1,202 career points and averaged 10.1 points per game.

Before he returned to coach his alma mater, Johnson was an assistant at Dayton (2006, graduate assistant), Texas-Pan American (2006-08), Northern Iowa (2008-12), Nebraska (2013), Minnesota (2013-18) and Xavier (2018-21).

Strengths

Cleveland State Vikings forward KJ Debrick (32) shoots as Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) and guard Femi Odukale (11) defend during the second half at Williams Arena. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Strengths are not easy to come by as the Gophers rank in the lower half of Division I in most major offensive categories – below 300th in seven of them.

At the heart of Minnesota’s strengths is veteran forward Dawson Garcia. A 6-foot-11 versatile post player, Garcia (19 ppg, 7.4 rpg) is the only dependable scorer or rebounder the Gophers have.

Minnesota is not a high scoring team, but it does share the ball well. The Gophers average 15.6 assists on 23.7 field goals per game.

Partly due to Garcia, Minnesota has done a good job of altering shots as they rank 43rd nationally at 4.9 blocks per game. It’s a team effort as six Gophers average at least a block per game.

Minnesota’s defensive stats look good as they prefer to hold scores down. Minnesota ranks 20th in scoring defense at 62 points conceded, but some of the underlying numbers suggest a correction is coming. The Gophers are not a top 100 field goal or 3-point defensive team. Minnesota does not foul much as opponents average just 14.1 attempts per game.

Weaknesses

Outside Garcia, scoring options are limited. Lu’Cye Patterson (10 ppg) and Mike Mitchell Jr. (10 ppg) just make it into a double-digit scoring average. Mitchell is a 44% 3-point shooter, but Minnesota only makes 29.7% as a team.

In its most recent game, a 90-72 home loss to Michigan State, the Gophers proved to be vulnerable at the rim. According to barttorvik.com, the Spartans were 10 of 19 at the rim. That would not bode well for Minnesota against the likes of Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau.

A possible weakness, given that the Gophers have dropped a pair of home games against their two most accomplished opponents – North Texas and Michigan State – is their road form. The Gophers have not yet played a true road game. That’s usually not a recipe for success when the first road contest is in conference play. (Indiana will be in the same boat later this week when it plays at Nebraska.)

Season and game outlook

Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Lu'Cye Patterson (25) works around Michigan State Spartans forward Xavier Booker (34) during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

More than any other Big Ten program, Minnesota has been ravaged by the transfer portal. Only two starters returned from the Gophers’ 19-15 NIT team. Johnson has been in a constant state of rebuilding Minnesota almost from scratch. It’s a big reason why the Gophers were picked to finish last in the Big Ten preseason media poll.

So far, their form has suggested that was close to the mark. Minnesota is ranked a Big Ten-worst 178th in the NET, and the Gophers have no Quad 1 or 2 victories.

Indiana has been uneven this season – especially in the first half of games. Minnesota has been outscored in the first half of all but one of its losses, so it would behoove the Hoosiers to shake off their first half doldrums and put the Gophers away early.

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