Gopher Mens BB team loses in Big Ten Opener, Johnson fired

(Minneapolis, MN) — University of Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle announced early this morning that he was making a change in leadership at the top of the Golden Gopher basketball program. Coyle said in a written statement that he met with head coach Ben Johnson after the team arrived in Minneapolis late last night to inform him of his decision to relieve Johnson of his coaching duties. Coyle says a search for a successor will begin immediately. Johnson’s team lost the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament to Northwestern yesterday 72-64 in Indianapolis to finish the year 15-17. Johnson’s four-year tenure ended with a career mark of 56-71 overall and 22-57 in the Big Ten. Coyle called the decision a “difficult” one to make and says the expectation is to “compete for championships.”

(Indianapolis, IN) — It’s one and done for the Gopher men in the Big Ten Tournament as they fell 72-64 to Northwestern on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round. Nick Martinelli scored 28 points for the Wildcats as 13th seeded Northwestern took out the No. 12 seeded Gophers. Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 22 points and Frank Mitchell added 11 points, including five straight points to pull the Gophers to within seven points at 67-60 with :45 seconds remaining.