Minnesota Golden Gophers: 24-9, 11-7 in the Big Ten
Head coach: Richard Pitino (4th season)
Key players: Nate Mason (15.3 PPG, 5.1 APG, 38.0 3PT%); Jordan Murphy (11.2 PPG, 8.8 RPG); Reggie Lynch (8.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.6 BPG)
Season recap: Minnesota was expected to once again be one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this season after only winning eight games last year. However, Richard Pitino’s squad had different ideas and set out to prove the pundits wrong.
The Gophers blew through their nonconference schedule, only losing once at Florida State to surpass their 2015-16 win total before starting conference play. Minnesota also seized a huge road wins at No. 15 Purdue and Northwestern to kick off Big Ten play. The team then hit a rough patch, however, losing five straight before righting the ship and ripping off eight straight wins to lock up its first at-large bid to the NCAA tournament since 2013.
The Gophers rely on a balanced attack mixed with stifling defense. They rank in the top 20 nationally in basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defense metric, and opponents are shooting less than 40 percent from the field. Junior Reggie Lynch, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, is second in the country in blocks and excels at deterring drives to the rim.
Minnesota’s offense runs through first-team All-Big Ten point guard Nate Mason, who leads the team in both points and assists. In addition to Mason, the Gophers have three other players who score in double figures, but Minnesota enters the Big Dance trending down after dropping two of its last three games, including a Big Ten tournament semifinal loss to Michigan.
How they make a run: The Gopher defense suffocates opposing offenses and Minnesota is able to knock down enough jumpers to pull out victories. Freshman Amir Coffey continues to emerge, providing the Gophers with another threat off the dribble and from beyond the arc.
How they falter: The team gets overwhelmed by the big stage of the NCAA tournament and the defense is its typical stringent self, but the offense falls cold. This has already happened several times this season, most notably in the regular-season finale, when Minnesota shot just 32.1 percent from the field and only scored 49 points, losing by 17 at then-No. 22 Wisconsin.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.