Gophers barely sneak past Green Bay in ugly overtime win at the Barn

It looked like Minnesota still had a serious hangover from Wednesday night's collapse against Missouri.

Nov 8, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Niko Medved looks on during the second half against the Alcorn State Braves at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Minnesota entered Saturday night's game against Green Bay as 27.5-point betting favorites. It seemed like a great opportunity to get back on track, but Niko Medved's squad barely squeaked by the Phoenix 72-65 in overtime.

The Gophers looked like they still had a serious hangover from Wednesday night's second-half collapse in Missouri. After starting their first three games of the season red-hot, they came out sluggish against Green Bay with poor body language, and it resulted in a concerning first 20 minutes of basketball.

After out-rebounding its opponent in the first three games of the season, Minnesota was bullied by Green Bay with a 22-12 deficit in first-half boards. The Gophers shot 8 of 27 as a team, and the Phoenix carried a 27-23 lead into halftime.

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North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson led Minnesota with 22.7 points per game and its first three games of the season, and he led the team again with 27 points on 7 of 14 shooting on Saturday night. He was their only offense for much of the game. They only had one other player in double figures.

BIG SHOT TYSON

Cade's got 23 points tn 🔥

Subscribe/watch on BTN https://t.co/nJnnCBF5dj pic.twitter.com/ThULs2IebV

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) November 16, 2025

Tyson had a moment to ice the game with some free throws. Minnesota had a one-point lead, and he missed a pair with 11 seconds left, but proceeded to get the offensive rebound before getting fouled again. He went 1 of 2 on his next trip, and then Green Bay drove down to tie the game. Chansey Willis Jr. made a full-court heave that was a split second late, and we went to overtime.

Views from the barn on the final possession of regulation. pic.twitter.com/AubUNXeILR

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) November 16, 2025

Despite a 20 of 39 (51.3%) night from the free-throw line, the Gophers did just enough to sneak past Green Bay 72-65. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson was the only other player in double figures with 11 points.

Second-year Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb might sound familiar because he still has a sports talk radio show with FOX. He won only four games against Division I opponents last season, and the Phoenix lost by 19 points at St. Thomas on Thursday, which makes Minnesota's performance that much more alarming.

Was Saturday's game just more evidence of how much of a rebuild it will be for Medved? Only time will tell, but now 3-1, the Gophers will have two days off before hosting Chicago State on Tuesday night, which is routinely among the worst teams in Division I men's college basketball.