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
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	18–15 (6–12 Big Ten)
Head coach	Richard Pitino
Assistant coaches	Dan McHale Kimani Young Ben Johnson
Home arena	Williams Arena
Seasons ← 2013–14 2015–16 →

2014–15 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	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

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

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit 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
	Recruit 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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Gaston Diedhiou PF	Senegal[1]	Canarias Basketball Academy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	224 lb (102 kg)	Apr 11, 2014
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Bakary Konate C	Mali[1]	Sunrise Christian Academy	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	228 lb (103 kg)	Apr 23, 2014
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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. Retrieved May 1, 2014. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

Roster

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 Richard Pitino (Providence) Assistant coach(es) Ben Johnson (Minnesota) Dan McHale (Kentucky) Kimani Young (UTEP) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

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.