Gophers Lose to Rutgers at Big Ten Tournament, Is Their Season Over?

The Gophers' six-man rotation ran out of gas on Wednesday night with a 72-67 loss to Rutgers in their first game of the Big Ten tournament. Their chances of getting invited to the College Basketball Crown or NIT also took a serious hit.

Rutgers looked like it found a way to beat Minnesota's zone in the first half with 16 points from leading scorer Tariq Francis, but they had only three other players score. Grayson Grove played one of the best halves of his collegiate career with a team-high 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and it even prompted Draymond Green comparisons from color commentator Jordan Taylor.

Minnesota recorded an assist on 11 of its first 12 field goals, which resulted in a 31-29 halftime lead. The shots began to rain down midway through the second half, thanks to a barrage of threes from Bobby Durkin. He's a native of Darien, Illinois, and he looked at home Wednesday night in Chicago.

Bobby Durkin is HOT from three ‼️ @GopherMBB

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/I5HRoOQawK
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 12, 2026

Langston Reynolds didn't score his first point of the game until a driving layup with 9:49 to go in the second half, and he finished with just six points. A mixture of foul trouble and some silly turnovers made for an uncharacteristic night from Minnesota's lead guard. He was severely outplayed by Francis, who finished with 29 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the field.

After a hot start, Asuma also struggled with just 9 points and 5 turnovers. The performance from Minnesota's backcourt against one of the most underrated guards in the Big Ten was ultimately the difference.

Cade Tyson led the way for the Gophers with 24 points, followed by Durkin with 15 and Grove with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. It wasn't enough, and Rutgers won 72-67.

Niko Medved has mentioned interest in his team potentially playing in a postseason tournament such as the NIT or College Basketball Crown. Those chances look very questionable after Wednesday's results at the Big Ten tournament. Indiana, Washington and Northwestern are all ranked higher in the NET, which means they will get the first invite to the Crown. There's still an outside shot they could get a look as an at-large team, those chances are a lot slimmer than they were earlier this week.

If Wednesday was their final game of the season, Minnesota will end with a 15-17 overall record in Medved's first season as head coach. This year's transfer portal doesn't open until April 7 to star what will be a pivotal offseason for the program.