Undermanned Gophers men’s basketball team falls at No. 3 Michigan 77-67

Third-ranked Michigan clinched at least a share of the Big Ten men’s basketball title by outlasting the injury-riddled Gophers 77-67 on Tuesday night, Feb. 24, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Gophers used only six players; all five starters played at least 38 minutes, with sixth man Kai Shinholster in for seven minutes.

The Wolverines, who were ranked No. 1 last week before a 68-63 loss to Duke on Saturday night in Washington, led by four points with 10 minutes remaining, then used a 19-5 run — fueled by five three-pointers — to open a 70-52 lead with 5:21 left.

Michigan is 26-2 overall and 16-1 in the Big Ten.

Guard Elliot Cadeau, a teammate of Gophers guard Cade Tyson at North Carolina last season, led the balanced Wolverines with 15 points.

Tyson paced the Gophers (13-15, 6-11) with 20 points.

“I’m such a competitive guy,” Gophers coach Niko Medved told KFAN radio after the game, “that I don’t believe in moral victories. But for us to come in here, against a team that is as good analytically as any team I’ve seen in 15 years, it was a heck of an effort. We can learn a lot from today. There were a lot of positives.”

Big Ten men’s basketball standings

The Gophers, who won the previous two meetings with the Wolverines (2024 in Ann Arbor and 2025 in Minneapolis), led by four points early in the game and still led by one midway through the first half before the Wolverines opened a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining before halftime. But the Gophers regrouped to cut the Wolverines’ lead to four at halftime.

Michigan used a 12-5 run early in the second half to open a 51-42 lead, but the Gophers got to within 51-47 before the Wolverines pulled away.

Langston Reynolds scored 15 points and Isaac Asuma and Bobby Durkin each added 12 for the Gophers.

The Gophers overcame a scoring drought of 6:16 late in the first half to stay within four points of the Wolverines at halftime.

A basket by Asuma with 2:03 left ended the drought and started a 6-0 run that got the Gophers to within 30-26 with 75 seconds left in the half. A basket by Cadeau made it 32-26 with 10 seconds left. A layup by Reynolds at the buzzer pulled the Gophers to within 32-28 at the intermission.

The Gophers, who had a season-high 15 three-pointers in an 80-61 victory over Rutgers on Feb. 21, were 12-of-34 from three-point range.