# 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.

## Previous season

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

| 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

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: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Gaston Diedhiou PF | Senegal | Canarias Basketball Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 224 lb (102 kg) | Apr 11, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Bakary Konate C | Mali | Sunrise Christian Academy | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 228 lb (103 kg) | Apr 23, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/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. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| 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. ||||||