The NCAA tournament was a long shot for Ben Johnson’s Gophers men’s basketball team after a late-season slide, but that didn’t keep Minnesota out of postseason play.
Gophers men’s basketball gets NIT bid and first-round matchup with Butler
The Gophers learned Sunday night their season has been extended with a first-round matchup against Butler in the 32-team NIT.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 18, 2024 at 11:12AM
Johnson was hoping to hear his 18-14 Gophers were able to extend their season – and they got picked in this year’s 32-team NIT field.
The Gophers, who finished ninth place in the Big Ten, will play No. 4 seed Butler on ESPNU at 8 p.m., Tuesday. The winner will move on to play either top-seeded Indiana State or SMU. The Gophers won the NIT in 2014 against SMU at Madison Square Garden.
“We’re really excited to be invited into the prestigious NIT,” Gophers coach Ben Johnson said in a news release. “It’s a great opportunity for our team to continue to build, grow, get better and compete. Our guys are excited and looking forward to preparing for it this week. It’s the next great step for our program, and we’re ready to get back on the court.”
Minnesota and Butler both have 18-14 records, and Butler also finished 9-11 in Big East play.
The NIT starts March 19 with first-round through quarterfinal games played on college campuses. The semifinals and finals are at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. That’s Butler’s home gym. The Gophers’ last game against Butler was a 64-56 loss at the fieldhouse in 2019-20.
“Everybody wanted to keep playing,” leading scorer Dawson Garcia said after Thursday’s 77-67 loss in the Big Ten tournament second round against Michigan State at Target Center.
The seventh loss in the last 10 games sunk Minnesota’s NET ranking to 89th as of Saturday, which was behind Ohio State (49), Iowa (62), Maryland (82) and Penn State (86). Ohio State and Iowa accepted bids to the NIT.
The NIT Selection Show named 12 automatic bids from the six major conferences, which was a new selection format this year. Those bids went to the top two NET-ranked teams in each Power Six conference that didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Missing the NCAA tourney soured some programs enough to opt out of the NIT on Sunday, including St. John’s, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Memphis, Ole Miss and Indiana.
No. 3 Michigan State scored the final four goals and rallied past top-ranked Minnesota for a 5-3 victory.
