Cade Tyson scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Minnesota held on for a 73-64 win over No. 22 Indiana in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Langston Reynolds also scored 17 points for Minnesota (5-4, 1-0 Big Ten), which snapped a three-game losing streak. Isaac Asuma added 15 points and seven rebounds.
Tayton Conerway scored 18 points to lead Indiana (7-1, 0-1), which took its first loss. Lamar Wilkerson put up 15 points, and Sam Alexis scored 10 off the bench.
After the final buzzer, fans from Minnesota’s student section poured on to the court to celebrate. It was the Golden Gophers’ first win over Indiana since 2019, snapping a nine-game skid against the Hoosiers, and it marked coach Niko Medved’s first Big Ten victory.
Minnesota led 65-55 with 4:08 remaining before Indiana mounted a desperate comeback.
A 7-0 run by the Hoosiers cut their deficit to 65-62 with two minutes left. Wilkerson drained a 3-pointer to punctuate the surge.
Minnesota increased its lead to 69-62 on one free throw apiece by Tyson and Asuma along with two foul shots by Bobby Durkin.
Indiana cut the deficit to five with 42 seconds left but missed a series of 3-pointers in the final minutes.
The score was tied at 33-all at the half.
Indiana pulled ahead 12-7 in the first four-plus minutes. Conerway made a 3-pointer off an assist from Tucker DeVries to give the Hoosiers a five-point advantage.
The Golden Gophers responded with an 8-0 run to grab a 15-12 lead. The run consisted of four consecutive layups, two by Tyson and then two by Reynolds.
Indiana built an eight-point lead later in the half. Alexis made a jump shot to give the Hoosiers a 27-19 advantage with 4:48 remaining.
Minnesota steadied itself with a 14-6 run to even the score going into the intermission. Tyson knocked down a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to pull the Golden Gophers even.
