Once the Gophers men’s basketball team completed its runaway 80-56 exhibition win over North Dakota State on Oct. 16 and Niko Medved wrapped up his news conference, the new head coach shared a parting thought as he left the Williams Arena interview room.
Gophers wing Cade Tyson poured in a game-high 28 points in Minnesota’s 80-54 exhibition win over North Dakota State at Williams Arena on Oct. 16, 2025. Tyson is a senior transfer from North Carolina. (Brad Rempel / Gophers Athletics)
“Wish it counted,” Medved said with a laugh.
Minnesota played well over the final 30 minutes in its first of two tune-up games. That was especially true for transfer wing Cade Tyson, who scored a game-high 28 points.
The Gophers’ second exhibition game is noon Saturday against North Dakota at The Barn. The season opener is Nov. 3 against Gardner-Webb.
Among the U’s nine new transfers, Tyson represents one of the most intriguing incoming players this season. The Monroe, N.C., native started his career at Belmont in Nashville, averaging 16.2 points and shooting 46% from 3-point range as a sophomore in 2023-24.
His first transfer move was to North Carolina, but didn’t play much while putting up 2.6 points in eight minutes per game, while shooting 29% from deep. So he hit the portal a second time.
“We always talk about fit matters,” Medved said after the NDSU win. “For whatever reason, it didn’t work out for him. If you remember a couple of years ago, he was one of the top transfers in the transfer portal. … North Carolina has a great program. It just wasn’t working out fit-wise. We thought he would be a great fit here. I think you are seeing that.”
Tyson didn’t look like a player searching for confidence after a down year with the Tar Heels. Against the Bison, he went 6 for 9 from behind the arc and made all four of his free throws.
“I felt confident out there on the floor,” Tyson said. “The most important thing that I felt was just having fun out there with my teammates. That was the best feeling.”
Tyson scored 11 straight points against NDSU, which is picked to finish in fourth of the Summit League this season.
“Every time he put up a three ball, I’m like, ‘Man, that’s money,” said guard Isaac Asuma said. “I’ve seen him rep it in practice.”
Medved listed a few things he likes about the 6-foot-7 Tyson, whose brother Hunter played at Clemson and is a reserve for the Denver Nuggets.
“(Cade’s) got great skill, great size,” Medved said. “He can shoot it. He’s a tough guy and you don’t see a kid that didn’t have confidence (vs. NDSU). He puts in the work and he believes in himself, and I think he’s going to have a really good year for us.”
Medved didn’t stop there. He said Tyson “kind of reminded” him of Nique Clifford, a guard who transferred from Colorado to Colorado State to play for Medved the previous two seasons.
Clifford, who was the Sacramento Kings’ 24th overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, shot 40% from 3-point land for the Buffaloes in 2021-22, but that number dipped to 28% the following year.
Clifford’s 3-point shooting improved 38% across his two years in Fort Collins, Colo., but so did his overall game, with jumps in scoring and rebounding and assist numbers.
The Gophers would love to see a similar bounce back from their new wing over the course of the upcoming campaign.
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