Gophers men’s basketball announces 2023-24 Big Ten home, road schedule
Dawson Garcia #3 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers celebrates his three-point basket against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the first half of the game at Williams Arena on December 11, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Bulldogs defeated the Golden (David Berding / Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team on Tuesday announced its Big Ten home and road opponents for the 2023-24 season.
The Gophers are coming off a 9-22 season, including a 2-17 mark in Big Ten play, in Ben Johnson’s second year as head coach of the program. The 2023-24 schedule with dates and times will be released at a later date, but we now know who their home and road opponents will be.
Here is an early look:
- Home and road opponents – Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn State
- Home only opponents – Maryland, Rutgers, Wisconsin
- Away only opponents – Illinois, Michigan, Purdue
The Gophers will also serve as hosts for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, March 13-17, at Target Center. The Gophers’ women’s team served as the host for the conference tournament this past year at Target Center.
The way the current home and road schedule looks, Minnesota avoids road trips to the Kohl Center and Rutgers Athletic Center. They’ll have to travel to the State Farm Center in Champaign, Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor and Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
They’ll also have to travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, the Breslin Center in East Lansing and Assembly Hall in Indiana, all very tough road venues in the Big Ten.
In two seasons under Johnson, the Gophers are 22-39, including 6-33 in Big Ten play. They’re 14-18 at Williams Arena, and 4-18 on the road. Johnson got his first Big Ten win as a head coach at Michigan two season ago. The Gophers’ only Big Ten road win last year came at Ohio State.
The Gophers had Jamison Battle, Ta’Lon Cooper, Treyton Thompson and Jaden Henley all leave the program after this past season. Cam Christie is the lone incoming freshman, with the talented class of Braeden Carrington, Pharrel Payne and Joshua Ola-Joseph all returning. The Gophers are also hoping to have Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen back healthy after they’ve each missed the last two seasons.
Leading scorer and rebounder Dawson Garcia is also back for next season, and Kadyn Betts should add depth after red-shirting last season. The Gophers have two scholarships to fill if Johnson so chooses after adding Mike Mitchell Jr. and Jack Wilson out of the NCAA transfer portal.
Minnesota is likely looking to add at least one more guard to the 2023-24 roster.