'That's the fun part': Big Ten Tournament is high stakes for Gophers

Minnesota has 'win-or-go-home mentality' for Thursday's game against Michigan State.

Last time the Gophers men’s basketball team played Michigan State on Feb. 7, Cam Christie delivered in clutch time to lead the U to a 59-56 victory at The Barn. 

That game went down to the wire, with Christie, a Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection, hitting the game-sealing free throws down the stretch of the Gophers' win. Minnesota coach Ben Johnson expects a similarly competitive game when the two teams face off once again in the Big Ten Tournament at 11 a.m. Thursday at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.

“Both teams (are) pretty evenly matched,” Johnson said. “It’s good that we split, hopefully that should give our guys confidence that what we’ve done and what we do, you know, in both games really, but especially the one at home has worked, so we don’t have to tweak too much, just get better with the details. But I think it’s a good matchup for us, I do. I think the competitive nature of both teams, should be a fun game. And I think if our guys can approach it with the right urgency, like they did the first two times, (it) puts us in a position to be successful Thursday.”

The Gophers and Spartans split their regular-season matchups, with the U winning at home on Feb. 7 and Michigan State taking their matchup in East Lansing, Mich., 76-66 on Jan. 18. Both teams enter Thursday's matchup coming off losses, and both will have a lot to play for when they take the court Thursday morning. 

The winner of Thursday's matchup will face top-seeded Purdue at 11 a.m. Friday. 

The eighth-seeded Spartans are coming off a 65-64 loss at Indiana on Sunday, and they're currently No. 24 in the NET rankings. ESPN is currently projecting Michigan State as a No. 10 seed in the Big Dance, so the Spartans are surely looking to bolster their seeding and NCAA Tournament resume in the conference tournament. 

The Gophers enter the Big Ten Tournament as the ninth seed, their best seeding under Johnson. Minnesota is currently ranked No. 86 in the NET and is coming off back-to-back losses at Indiana and Northwestern, respectively, so its hopes of making the NCAA Tournament likely come down to winning the conference tournament. 

If the Gophers lose Thursday, barring an NIT invite, their season is over.

“It’s that win-or-go-home mentality,” Johnson said. “But that’s the fun part about this year is that the stakes are high. And hopefully you can ride that emotion the right way.”

The Gophers will likely be at full strength for Thursday's matchup. Braeden Carrington, a top-tier perimeter defender, returned for Saturday's matchup at Northwestern after a concussion sidelined him for the team's previous two games. Johnson also said Josh Ola-Joseph, who's also been dealing with a concussion, is finishing up his protocol. Johnson said he'd know later Tuesday whether he'd be available Thursday. 

“We feel pretty good, pretty healthy, especially for this time of year,” Johnson said. “And we’re gonna need it, you’re trying to win four (games) in four (days) and just this first one against Michigan State, we’re gonna need all the bodies that we can get, so it’s a good feeling knowing that we’re going in there pretty healthy.”

Having as many bodies available as possible is especially important in addressing the team's defensive issues that have cost them over their last two losses. Johnson said the U got "worn down" in those games. That can't be the case in a win-or-go-home matchup against a good Michigan State team. 

The Spartans' offense starts with leading scorer Tyson Walker, an All-Big Ten Second Team selection by both coaches and media who averages 18.4 points per game. He scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, in the two games against the Gophers. 

The Gophers will need their top players to deliver on Thursday. Even in an ugly loss Saturday at Northwestern, Dawson Garcia delivered a 30-point performance. He was named an All-Big Ten Second Team selection by the media and an All-Big Ten Third Team selection by coaches. 

Elijah Hawkins, who ranks second in the nation in assists per game at 7.5, was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Everything offensively starts with him. 

Perhaps the best part about this year’s Big Ten Tournament for the U is that it’s in its back yard. Minnesota has played its best basketball at home this season, posting a 16-4 record on the Williams Arena court. While the tournament will take place across the river at Target Center, it should serve as a pseudo-home court for the Gophers.

“It’s an opportunity, obviously, to play in front of our fans again, and hopefully, we’ll get a great turnout, opportunity to use that to our advantage and kind of make it a neutral site/home-court feeling,” Johnson said. “We want to play our best basketball and stay in this thing as long as we can.”

Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson gestures to his team against Northwestern during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., on March 9, 2024 :: David Banks / USA TODAY Sports