Gophers basketball pressing for a victory as No. 22 Maryland comes to town

Amir Coffey was sitting in the living room of his home in Hopkins last February watching fans storm the Williams Arena court when the Gophers upset No. 6 Maryland.

The Gophers' first victory of the Big Ten season had ended a 14-game losing streak, which included a 0-13 conference start.

Although meaningless in what was already a lost season, the 68-63 victory over Maryland was the type of victory that showed Coffey, then the U's prized recruit of this year's class, that the Gophers men's basketball team had hope for a better future.

"On TV, the atmosphere was crazy," Coffey said. "I know this year is going to be a good game, too, because I'm sure they're thinking about what happened last year and trying to get us back. But we need this game."

The Gophers know they are closing in on must-win time to stay in the NCAA tournament picture, with Saturday's home game with No. 22 Maryland a prime opportunity to break a four-game losing streak.

While the losing streak might not be as long as last season's, a victory for the Gophers (15-6, 3-5 Big Ten) over the Terrapins (18-2, 6-1) this time would be much more significant.

Chances are the fans won't be rushing the Barn floor this year, because Maryland isn't expected to be a national title contender, even though the Terrapins are tied with Wisconsin for first place in the Big Ten.

Gophers coach Richard Pitino knows doubt is starting to come from observers about whether his team is NCAA tournament-worthy. So he reminded his players they already have a solid tournament résumé.

"We want to go to the NCAA tournament," he said. "I don't talk about it much publicly. I don't get into that. But the expectations are to do that."

Pitino told his team it will have to do some "uncomfortable things" to make the NCAA tournament, but he didn't want the players to feel pressured to turn the season around right now.

"Obviously, we should be concerned with the four-game losing streak," junior center Reggie Lynch said. "But he just wanted to relay to us that we shouldn't be too down and stay confident, because there are a lot of teams in our conference who would trade résumés with us. Even though we've been on a four-game losing streak we're still in very good shape. A quick turnaround after a win tomorrow could affect it in a great way."

The Gophers are no strangers to Big Ten losing streaks. They have had at least a four-game slide in league play in six of the past seven seasons, starting with the last three years under Tubby Smith.

But sitting a couple of victories away from .500 in the Big Ten after playing five of the first eight games on the road isn't too bad in Pitino's eyes. The Gophers play six of their last 10 regular-season games at home. They are ranked No. 19 in Rating Percentage Index (RPI) with a No. 8 strength of schedule (SOS), and they are the 39th-best team in the country, according to advanced stats guru Ken Pomeroy.

The Gophers have dropped four Big Ten games by six points or fewer. But Pitino considers the 52-50 loss Jan. 14 at Penn State — where the Gophers led by 14 — as the only one his team blew with terrible late-game execution.

So while last year's court-storming vs. Maryland was the highlight of an abysmal season, winning Saturday against the same opponent could be bigger to regroup the Gophers for what still can be a special season.

"[Pitino] just said we got to go on a run in these last 10 games in conference," Coffey said. "Just finish out strong and we'll be in good shape to make the [NCAA] tournament."