Rutgers and Minnesota have had surprising seasons for different reasons.
But both are guaranteed to make the 15-team Big Ten tournament as they square off in their regular-season finale Sunday afternoon in Piscataway, N.J.
The Scarlet Knights (14-16, 7-12) and Golden Gophers (15-15, 7-12) are part of a five-way tie entering the final weekend of conference play, but factoring in tiebreakers, Sunday’s game most likely will determine the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten tourney. There are scenarios in which either team could drop as far as No. 15 with a loss and other results.
Minnesota has not had much basketball success in recent years, but coach Ben Johnson feels his team has exceeded the media’s preseason expectations. The Golden Gophers have rallied from an 0-6 start to the Big Ten slate.
“There’s a lot of people that did not think that (Minnesota would be) in the Big Ten tournament. Period,” Johnson said. “And they could say they did, but they did not. There was a lot of people that did not think we would win seven games with a chance to win eight. Last year we won nine. If I would’ve told people we had a chance to win eight, they would’ve laughed at me and called me crazy, right?
“I want our guys to take a ton of pride in that. To start off 0-6, with it stacked against you, and then to have people in the preseason have you picked last and to be that resilient, to keep fighting — that’s a character trait.”
Minnesota lost for the third time in four games with a 74-67 result against No. 12 Wisconsin on Wednesday. Brennan Rigsby (18 points) led the Gophers in scoring for the second straight game.
Rutgers followed an 84-82 loss on a buzzer-beater at then-No. 15 Michigan with a 100-71 no-show at No. 18 Purdue. While freshmen Dylan Harper (19.1 points per game) and Ace Bailey (18.0) brought plenty of hype when both came to Piscataway, the Scarlet Knights’ trademark defense has been lacking all season.
“It’s tough,” associate head coach Brandin Knight said in a postgame radio interview after Purdue made 18 of 36 3-point attempts. “Especially because it’s been a staple for us. But we have to figure it out. We still have games left to play. The biggest thing is you’ve got to figure it out quickly. But for us it is disappointing when we don’t get stops.”
The frontcourt battle between Minnesota leading scorer and rebounder Dawson Garcia (19.1 and 7.5 per game) and Rutgers freshmen Bailey and Lathan Sommerville (7.9 ppg) will be one to watch.
–Field Level Media
