The Gophers men’s basketball team didn’t have a lot to be thankful for around Thanksgiving.
Over that holiday, Minnesota lost its second and third straight games at the AcriSure Series in Palm Desert, Calif., and the U didn’t have much of a pulse in the latter game, falling 86-75 to Santa Clara on Nov. 28.
Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Langston Reynolds, middle, passes the ball while Iowa Hawkeyes guard Kael Combs (11) and guard Isaia Howard (23) defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
In the previous week, the U had lost starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr., to a season-ending foot injury and starting center Robert Vaihola had played his last game this year because of a knee injury.
“I think we were still a little rattled by some of the injuries,” head coach Niko Medved recalled Tuesday. “… All of sudden, you knew right away the team was going to look a lot different than even we had planned back in the fall.”
With a weaker nonconference schedule, the Gophers were mired at 4-4 overall going into December.
Since then, the shorthanded Gophers have declined excuses and won six of seven games, including a 70-67 victory over No. 19 Iowa at Williams Arena on Tuesday. Minnesota now sits at 10-5 overall and 3-1 to start Big Ten play.
“You are either going to embrace it or you are just going to give in,” Medved said, “and we’re not going to give in.”
Guard Langston Reynolds was one of 13 new players on Medved’s first roster at Minnesota. With Willis’ injury, the Northern Colorado transfer moved from a sixth-man role into the starting lineup. He had a game-high 22 points against the Hawkeyes.
“Obviously, we had a lot of guys go down at random times, which (is) terrible. It’s horrible,” Reynolds said. “But just sticking with it, that was the biggest thing. Not splitting off. A lot of teams would split off and say, ‘I’m going to get mine.’ But it wasn’t like that. We thought we had to play for those guys and play for each other. That’s what we can do.”
The Gophers are also without backup forward BJ Omot (leg) and reserve guard Chance Stephens (illness), shrinking their bench even more. That pair of transfers haven’t played all season, leaving the U to rely on a seven-man rotation.
The Gophers started the New Year with an 84-78 win at Northwestern on Saturday. Reynolds, Cade Tyson and Isaac Asuma each played all 40 minutes in the win.
“I’ve never seen that in a college game — at least not one I’ve been a part of,” said Medved, who has been coaching for 29 years, 13 as a head coach.
Reynolds and Asuma each played more than 36 minutes against the Hawkeyes, with two freshman, Grayson Grove and Kai Shinholster, logging more than 15 apiece.
“The other thing when you have injuries like that, it creates clarity now,” Medved said. “The decision tree is gone. These are the seven guys in the rotation. We’ve got to find a way to make it work.”
The Gophers have been able to find success for a few reasons.
Simply, they haven’t backed down when things get dicey. They showed toughness in battling back from a seven-point deficit in the second half against the Wildcats, then weathered a late 20-5 run against the Hawkeyes.
Forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, who followed Medved as a transfer from Colorado State, has been a leader also logging big minutes. He hit a clutch 3-pointer to stave off Iowa with a minute to go.
Minnesota guard Isaac Asuma drives on Iowa’s Kael Combs in a Big Ten basketball game Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. (Brad Rempel / Gophers Athletics)
“In the past, teams go up seven or eight, we would kind of lose ourselves,” Crocker-Johnson said Monday. “We are definitely making a lot of jumps recently. I would say, just staying calm, staying together.”
Medved’s offense prides itself on constant cutting, screens and sharing the ball at a high rate. Coming into Tuesday, the U led the nation in assist percentage (75.9), and against Iowa they had assists on 68% of their baskets (15 of 22).
Tyson’s scoring has been a driving force. The transfer from North Carolina is second in the Big Ten at 21.7 points per game.
On defense, Minnesota has been able to — at least partially — limit some of other team’s best players. Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli and Indiana’s Tucker DeVries each found it frustrating at times against the Gophers.
For instance, Stirtz was held scoreless in the first half against Minnesota and early foul trouble also played a role in that.
The Hawkeyes came into the game at No. 2 in the conference in field goal percentage (51.9), but Minnesota limited them to under 38%.
“My experience has been, over the years, whenever you go through things like this, you become a better coach,” Medved said. “It doesn’t feel good at the time, but you get challenged. You’ve got to change the way you think, got to embrace it and you become better. I think people do, too. Players have embraced that.”
Related Articles
Gophers hold off late rally and upset No. 19 Iowa
When Gophers men’s basketball wins a road game, it’s snack time
Men’s basketball: Gophers second-half surge leads to 84-78 win at Northwestern
Huge challenge for short-handed Gophers men’s basketball: 18 straight Big Ten games
Gophers starting center Robert Vaihola expected to miss rest of season
Leave a Reply