Despite the Losses, What Niko Medved Is Doing With Minnesota Is Remarkable

Minnesota has no business competing with so many injuries, but night in and night out, they remain a very competitive team — even against some of the top teams in the country.

Minnesota head coach Niko Medved is shown during the first half of their game against Wisconsin Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Gophers have lost 11 games this season, but at least four of them could've easily gone the other way. Hindsight is 20:20, but that's how close Niko Medved has the shorthanded and undersized Gophers in his first season at the University of Minnesota.

At 10-11 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten, the Gophers are riding a six-game losing streak. Despite that, the vibes aren't all bad. In fact, most Minnesota fans are optimistic because these Gophers have nothing to lose, and nobody expected them to be very good in the first place.

Minnesota flat-out had a chance to win four of their last six games, and in the two losses where they lost by double-digit points, they were tied with Illinois at the half and held a lead over undefeated Nebraska at the half. Both Illinois and Nebraska are legitimate Final Four contenders.

Tonight marked the 6th straight game Minnesota was leading or tied at halftime or at the end of regulation but lost the game.

That matches the longest such streak by any Division I team in the last 30 seasons (also George Mason from January 11 to February 1, 2014). pic.twitter.com/SuK83bnrJ3

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 29, 2026

When you read what's coming below, you'll see that Minnesota is literally inches or seconds away from being 14-7 and 7-3 in the conference rather than 10-11 and 3-7 in the Big Ten.

In their 67-63 loss at Wisconsin on Wednesday, they played without leading scorer Cade Tyson, whose absence was on top of already playing without Chansey Willis Jr., Robert Vaihola, and B.J. Omot, who are all out for the season with injuries. With redshirt freshman Nehemiah Turner also out with an injury, Medved had seven scholarship players his disposal, and outside of four minutes from Max Grizzi, only six guys played the rest of the game.

It's no surprise that a roster of usually six or seven players being asked to play heavy minutes is coming up short at the end of so many games. They built a 20-point lead against the Badgers and simply couldn't hold on in the second half.

At Ohio State, Langston Reynolds missed a layup at the rim with three seconds left that would've give Minnesota the win. Instead, they lost 82-74 in overtime.

In their first meeting with Wisconsin, Tyson hit a three with five seconds left to tie the game, only to see John Blackwell break their hearts with a buzzer-beating three to give the Badgers a 78-75 win at Williams Arena.

Against USC, the Gophers rallied from a 13-point hole in the second half to force overtime, only to lose 70-69.

How Medved is keeping this team, which lacks depth and size, as competitive as they've been is a marvel, and it's precisely why the Gophers continue to be must-watch TV and a team that is on the rise in the Big Ten.