It's year one for Niko Medved and the Gopher basketball team, but already there are some solid returns for a program that has struggled in Big Ten play recently.
The Gophers overcame a late seven-point deficit to rally for an 84-78 victory at Northwestern on Saturday, a place that has been a very difficult place for Minnesota to win. It's their first win in Evanston since 2020.
That moved Minnesota to 2-1 in Big Ten play (9-5 overall). Their other Big Ten win is an upset over Indiana at Williams Arena, where they will welcome a ranked Iowa Hawkeyes team Tuesday night.
Medved, who spoke to WCCO's Henry Lake, says his team is thin with their depth right now, but players have really stepped up their effort.
"I don't remember being a part of a game where we had three guys play all 40 minutes," Medved said. "So I thought that was, you know, that showed a lot of grit and toughness right there. Obviously we're really thin right now and three guys have played the entire game. We've had one guy do it, but to have all three guys was pretty remarkable."
Medved says coming from behind in the game shows growth with his young team.
"We've been in some of these situations this year and we were down, that game we were down seven with four and a half minutes to go," said the Gopher coach. "Maybe three weeks ago if we were in that situation, maybe there would have been a little lack of belief if we could come back and pull it off. But we've talked and worked so hard at being resilient and making the next play, and man, those guys didn't back down an inch. We came back, we made a great run and took the lead and found a way to get the job done."
As for Iowa, they'll present a very difficult challenge for the Gophers. Medved said they'll need their homecourt advantage, and some great play to get another win. The Hawkeyes built this year's team thanks to the transfer portal, and another in-state school that had a lot of success last season.
"Iowa, they're really well coached, they're so connected and disciplined," Medved told Lake. "You got a group of guys that a lot of that court had played together, right? So they were at Drake last year. They were in the NCAA tournament. They've got one of the best players, in the conference, maybe one of the best players in the country, in Bennett Stirtz. He knows their system inside and out. He's a maestro in the pick-and-roll. Doesn't matter what coverage you throw at him, he's seen it all. The four guys that play behind him just do such a great job of spacing and cutting and playing with each other. They're tough as nails defensively. They don't turn it over, you know, they'll play a slower tempo. But they're the kind of team that they don't beat themselves."
Iowa Hawkeyes (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten)
Minneapolis; Tuesday, 7 p.m.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Hawkeyes -6.5; over/under is 129.5
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota hosts No. 19 Iowa after Cade Tyson scored 24 points in Minnesota's 84-78 win against the Northwestern Wildcats.
The Golden Gophers are 8-0 in home games. Minnesota has a 3-5 record against opponents above .500.
The Hawkeyes are 2-1 in Big Ten play. Iowa ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 17.1 assists per game led by Bennett Stirtz averaging 5.2.
Minnesota makes 46.4% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.0 percentage points higher than Iowa has allowed to its opponents (42.4%). Iowa averages 15.0 more points per game (80.7) than Minnesota allows (65.7).
The matchup Tuesday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Isaac Asuma is averaging 10.4 points and 4.4 assists for the Golden Gophers. Tyson is averaging 21.4 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 52.0% over the last 10 games.
Stirtz is shooting 43.4% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hawkeyes, while averaging 17.8 points, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals. Tavion Banks is averaging 9.4 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 6-4, averaging 71.5 points, 29.3 rebounds, 18.8 assists, 6.9 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.2 points per game.
Hawkeyes: 8-2, averaging 77.2 points, 28.4 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 51.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.3 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.