Gophers: Ben Johnson talks NCAA Tournament, getting core players to stay

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The first real sign that the University of Minnesota men’s basketball season will soon come to a close comes Wednesday night, when the Gophers host Indiana at Williams Arena.

It’s Minnesota’s final regular season home game, though they celebrated Senior Day on Saturday with a win over Penn State. The Gophers honored Will Ramberg, Jackson Purcell, Jack Wilson and Parker Fox, who has one more year to use if he wants to next season.

The next step is keeping as much of the current roster intact as possible. With the NCAA transfer portal and NIL opportunities at other schools, that’s easier said than done. Ben Johnson is having his best season so far at Minnesota, and was asked Tuesday if he things the core group will be back. That includes starters Dawson Garcia, Elijah Hawkins, Pharrel Payne, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Cam Christie. Braeden Carrington and Joshua Ola-Joseph have also splashed in moments this year.

But will it stay that way?

"I hope so. All that stuff will probably come to a head at the end of the year. But I give a lot of our guys credit, they’ve been so focused on the task at hand. We haven’t had any distractions, and that’s hard to have in today’s day and age," Johnson said Tuesday. "I think they’re just really focused on making sure we finish the season the right way."

Garcia and Hawkins said Tuesday those are conversations that will be had after the season ends. 

For the right now, the Gophers are looking to end their home slate with a win over Indiana, after losing to the Hoosiers earlier this season at Assembly Hall. Minnesota is 16-3 at Williams Arena this season, the second-most home wins in the Big Ten behind Nebraska. A win Wednesday night also guarantees the Gophers will finish at least .500 in the Big Ten, something that’s only happened seven times since the 1997 Final Four team. Beat Indiana and Northwestern, and they’ll be above .500 for the first time since 2016-17, when Richard Pitino was the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

"It’s very important. We know we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the fans, we owe it to the state and just everybody that’s believed in us. Finish up things strong," Garcia said.

If they can continue to win, they also give themselves a chance at the NCAA Tournament if they can go on a run at the Big Ten Tournament. It's a welcome conversation after going 9-22 last season.

But none of that matters if they don’t beat Indiana and/or Northwestern.

"As a coach, you can’t hide the talk from the outside. The good part is you want to have talk, it means you’re doing something. I just tell guys if you worry about that and you don’t worry about the task at hand, that can become impossible because you don’t handle business tomorrow," Johnson said. "In order for all that stuff to even be a possibility, you’ve got to take care of today and worry about today. If you have one slip up, one minor mistake, one off day because you’re not engaged, you’re going to waste an opportunity for the future."

Johnson was asked if he feels has an NCAA Tournament team right now. They're 18-11, and likely need at least 20 wins to get there.

"I think we’re playing that way. I think we have the pieces that can compete in a tournament, I think we have the pieces that can win in a tournament," Johnson said. "You can talk about it, read about it, think about it but you’ve got to go out there and do it. The best thing you can do is win games. It all comes down to winning, and that’s on us."

Wednesday night is the final game at Williams Arena this season. If the Gophers were to make the NIT, they wouldn't host a game as it conflicts with the Boys State Basketball Tournament.