Ben Johnson says Gophers would love a postseason opportunity
Ben Johnson says Gophers would welcome postseason opportunity
The University of Minnesota men's basketball team heads to the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday as the No. 12 seed, and faces Northwestern. If the Gophers do enough to earn a postseason opportunity, Ben Johnson says they would accept any invitation that comes their way. Johnson and star forward Dawson Garcia spoke with reporters on Monday.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team heads to the Big Ten Tournament this week.
After a season of several close calls, the Gophers (15-16, 7-13) are the No. 12 seed and face No. 13 seed Northwestern at 2:30 p.m. The Gophers have one path to the NCAA Tournament: Win five games in five days to take the conference tournament and earn the league’s automatic bid.
If they can win at least one game, it helps their chances to get to the NIT. Ben Johnson said Monday they’ll take any postseason opportunity that comes their way.
"We’ve talked about that as a team, obviously let’s take care of this week and see how far we can go. The more you win, the more opportunities you have. but 100 percent, we would love to continue to play," Johnson said.
A bizarre Big Ten season
Why you should care:
The Gophers finished 7-13 in Big Ten play, and have not had a winning conference season under Johnson. They had five Big Ten road wins, but went just 2-8 in league play at Williams Arena. Two of those home losses were to Penn State and Washington, who were last in the Big Ten at the time.
It’s crazy to think how close the Gophers were at one point to being in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
‘Everyone understands the circumstances’
Dig deeper:
The Gophers lost to the Wildcats 75-63 at Williams Arena. If they don’t win Wednesday, their season is probably over.
It’s something that’s not lost on senior forward Dawson Garcia, who recently passed the 2,000-point plateau with the Gophers and will earn All-Big Ten honors.
They have bigger things in mind than just a win on Wednesday. If they win, they would face Wisconsin on Thursday.
"I think everyone understands the circumstances. As far as guaranteed games, it’s win or go home. We have high expectations for ourselves," Garcia said.