2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2014-15 college basketball season. Led by second year head coach Richard Pitino the Golden Gophers, members of the Big Ten Conference, played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record18–15 (6–12 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaWilliams Arena
Seasons
2014–15 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Wisconsin 16 2   .889 36 4   .900
No. 12 Maryland 14 4   .778 28 7   .800
No. 23 Michigan State 12 6   .667 27 12   .692
Iowa 12 6   .667 22 12   .647
Purdue 12 6   .667 21 13   .618
Ohio State 11 7   .611 24 11   .686
Indiana 9 9   .500 20 14   .588
Illinois 9 9   .500 19 14   .576
Michigan 8 10   .444 16 16   .500
Minnesota 6 12   .333 18 15   .545
Northwestern 6 12   .333 15 17   .469
Nebraska 5 13   .278 13 18   .419
Penn State 4 14   .222 18 16   .529
Rutgers 2 16   .111 10 22   .313
2015 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

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The Golden Gophers finished the season 25–13, 8–10 in Big Ten play to finish in seventh place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament where they lost to Wisconsin. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated High Point, Saint Mary's, Southern Miss, Florida State and SMU to be the 2014 NIT Champions.

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Wally Ellenson 3 G 6'6" 210 Sophomore Rice Lake, WI Transferred
Oto Osenieks 10 F 6'8" 220 RS Junior Riga, Latvia Graduated
Maverick Ahanmisi 13 G 6'2" 190 Senior Santa Clarita, CA Graduated
Austin Hollins 20 G 6'4" 190 Senior Germantown, TN Graduated
Malik Smith 30 G 6'2" 200 Senior Boston, MA Graduated

Incoming recruits

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Josh Martin
PF
Bothell, WA Bothell High School 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Sep 30, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: 
Nate Mason
PG
Decatur, GA Arlington Country Day School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 171 lb (78 kg) Oct 25, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: 
Carlos Morris
SF
Apalachicola, FL Chipola College (JC) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Oct 29, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A
Gaston Diedhiou
PF
Senegal[1] Canarias Basketball Academy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Apr 11, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247Sports:     ESPNN/A
Bakary Konate
C
Mali[1] Sunrise Christian Academy 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Apr 23, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2014 Minnesota Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  • "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

Roster

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2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Andre Hollins 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr White Station HS Memphis, TN
G 2 Nate Mason 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Arlington Country Day School Decatur, GA
G 4 Deandre Mathieu 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Central Arizona College Knoxville, TN
G 5 Daquein McNeil (S) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Vermont Acad. Baltimore, MD
G 11 Carlos Morris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Chipola College (JC) Apalachicola, FL
G 12 Kendal Shell (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Webster Groves HS St. Louis, MO
F 15 Maurice Walker 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Sr Brewster Academy Scarborough, ON
C 21 Bakary Konate 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Sunrise Christian Academy Bamako, Mali
G 22 Darin Haugh (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Bethany Lutheran Prior Lake, MN
F 23 Charles Buggs 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So Hargrave Military Acad. Arlington, TX
F 24 Joey King 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Drake Eagan, MN
G 25 Mike Lukashewich (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Appleton North HS Appleton, WI
F 41 Gaston Diedhiou 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Canarias Basketball Academy Dakar, Senegal
C 55 Elliott Eliason 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Sr Chadron HS Chadron, NE
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Nov 6*
7:00 pm
Minnesota–Duluth W 95–68 
Williams Arena (11,440)
Minneapolis, MN
Regular season
Nov 14*
6:00 pm, ESPN
vs. No. 8 Louisville
Armed Forces Classic
L 68–81  0–1
CGAS Borinquen (1,693)
Aguadilla, PR
Nov 18*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Western Kentucky
NIT Season Tip-Off
W 76–54  1–1
Williams Arena (10,763)
Minneapolis, MN
Nov 20*
7:00 pm
Franklin Pierce
NIT Season Tip-Off
W 109–57  2–1
Williams Arena (9,562)
Minneapolis, MN
Nov 22*
7:30 pm
UMBC W 69–51  3–1
Williams Arena (11,212)
Minneapolis, MN
Nov 26*
6:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. St. John's
NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals
L 61–70  3–2
Madison Square Garden (5,128)
New York City, NY
Nov 28*
3:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. Georgia
NIT Season Tip-Off 3rd place game
W 66–62  4–2
Madison Square Garden (5,548)
New York City, NY
Dec 2*
6:00 pm, ESPNU
at Wake Forest
ACC–Big Ten Challenge
W 84–69  5–2
LJVM Coliseum (8,112)
Winston-Salem, NC
Dec 5*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
Western Carolina W 84–64  6–2
Williams Arena (11,026)
Minneapolis, MN
Dec 8*
8:00 pm, ESPNU
North Dakota W 92–56  7–2
Williams Arena (11,185)
Minneapolis, MN
Dec 10*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Southern W 85–57  8–2
Williams Arena (11,409)
Minneapolis, MN
Dec 19*
7:00 pm, BTN
Seattle W 92–57  9–2
Williams Arena (12,121)
Minneapolis, MN
Dec 22*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Furman W 86–76  10–2
Williams Arena (12,287)
Minneapolis, MN
Dec 27*
12:00 pm, BTN
UNC Wilmington W 108–82  11–2
Williams Arena (12,711)
Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten regular season
Dec 31
2:15 pm, BTN
at Purdue L 68–72  11–3 (0–1)
Mackey Arena (10,018)
West Lafayette, IN
Jan 3
11:00 am, BTN
at No. 12 Maryland L 58–70  11–4 (0–2)
Xfinity Center (15,788)
College Park, MD
Jan 6
8:00 pm, ESPN
No. 22 Ohio State L 72–74 OT 11–5 (0–3)
Williams Arena (13,138)
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 10
12:00 pm, ESPNU
at Michigan L 57–62  11–6 (0–4)
Crisler Center (12,707)
Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 13
8:00 pm, BTN
Iowa L 75–77  11–7 (0–5)
Williams Arena (12,401)
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 17
11:00 am, BTN
Rutgers W 89–80  12–7 (1–5)
Williams Arena (12,461)
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 20
7:30 pm, BTN
at Nebraska L 49–52  12–8 (1–6)
Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,606)
Lincoln, NE
Jan 24
1:15 pm, BTN
Illinois W 79–71  13–8 (2–6)
Williams Arena (13,421)
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 28
6:00 pm, BTN
at Penn State L 58–63  13–9 (2–7)
Bryce Jordan Center (6,100)
University Park, PA
Jan 31
5:00 pm, BTN
Nebraska W 60–42  14–9 (3–7)
Williams Arena (13,253)
Minneapolis, MN
Feb 7
2:00 pm, BTN
Purdue W 62–58  15–9 (4–7)
Williams Arena (13,041)
Minneapolis, MN
Feb 12
6:00 pm, BTN
at Iowa W 64–59  16–9 (5–7)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (13,756)
Iowa City, IA
Feb 15
6:30 pm, BTN
at Indiana L 71–90  16–10 (5–8)
Assembly Hall (17,472)
Blommington, IN
Feb 18
8:00 pm, BTN
Northwestern L 66–72  16–11 (5–9)
Williams Arena (12,361)
Minneapolis, MN
Feb 21
11:00 am, ESPN
at No. 5 Wisconsin L 53–63  16–12 (5–10)
Kohl Center (17,279)
Madison, WI
Feb 26
6:00 pm, BTN
at Michigan State W 96–90 OT 17–12 (6–10)
Breslin Center (14,797)
East Lansing, MI
Mar 5
6:00 pm, ESPN
No. 6 Wisconsin L 63–76  17–13 (6–11)
Williams Arena (14,625)
Minneapolis, MN
Mar 8
12:00 pm, BTN
Penn State L 76–79  17–14 (6–12)
Williams Arena (12,412)
Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten tournament
Mar 11
6:00 pm, BTN
(11) vs. (14) Rutgers
First round
W 80–68  18–14
United Center (16,098)
Chicago, IL
Mar 12
8:00 pm, ESPN2
(11) vs. (6) Ohio State
Second round
L 73–79  18–15
United Center (16,549)
Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References

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