Gophers have plenty to play for in Big Ten after USC, UCLA sweep

Gophers host Penn State after USC, UCLA sweep

The Gophers men's basketball team hosts Penn State on Saturday at Williams Arena. Minnesota is 6-9 in Big Ten play with 5 games left after getting a sweep at USC and UCLA in the past week. Ben Johnson, Lu'Cye Patterson and Dawson Garcia spoke to reporters before Friday's practice.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team had the lead on its West Coast trip last week for all of 3 minutes, 12 seconds, but they came home 2-0 with comeback wins at USC and UCLA.

The Gophers trailed the Trojans by as many as 14 last Saturday before rallying for a 69-66 win. Very late Tuesday night, the Gophers trailed the Bruins by 17 in the first half before leaving with a 64-61 victory.

"We just talk about it just matters at the end, the final horn," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said before Friday’s practice at Williams Arena. "The fortitude and toughness they showed this past week, just really proud of that."

They were two wins the Gophers had to have, as they’re 6-9 in the Big Ten with five regular season games left. With 18 teams in the league, the bottom three at the end of the season don’t qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota is currently in a three-way tie for 10th, but one win out of the No. 8 spot.

Three of their final five games are against teams behind them in the standings. But Johnson reminded us Friday the Gophers were predicted before the season to finish last in the league. And on Feb. 1, last place Washington left Williams Arena with a victory.

"Shame on us if this happens a second time. Hopefully that lesson was learned. The more you win, the harder it gets because now teams are up for you," Johnson said. "I want our guys to still remember we’re the team that everybody picked dead last. It’s not one of those rah, rah, F everybody. I don’t want our guys to get comfortable. The minute you feel like you’ve arrived, for a coach that’s a scary feeling."

Gophers stick together after 0-6 start

What the players are saying::

The Gophers started Big Ten play on a six-game losing streak. It would’ve been easy to pack it in, give up on the season and for the locker room to get fractured. After a postgame meeting at Wisconsin, they got closer.

Dawson Garcia’s buzzer-beater against Michigan gave them their first Big Ten win. They also beat Iowa, Oregon and Penn State before heading to L.A.

"I think we stuck together. That just goes to show how connected we are and the job that us as players and the staff did," Garcia said. "Just leaning in together as opposed to splitting apart."

Lu’Cye Patterson had 25 points in their win at USC. He then scored the game-winning shot and drew a game-sealing charge at UCLA. He says there’s still a lot to play for, more than just the Big Ten Tournament.

"I feel like we can get in the top seven, and who knows what could happen. We’ve got a lot at stake, everybody is starting to realize we could do something real special right now," Patterson said. "We ain’t settling for that for our last year, I wouldn’t want to go out like that. I don’t think anybody does. That’s the big reason why we’re staying together."

Tyler Cochran update

What we know:

It feels more and more likely that Tyler Cochran won’t play for the Gophers this season. The Toledo transfer and last year’s MAC Defensive Player of the Year had foot surgery before the season. He was supposed to return by late December, but hasn’t seen the court once.

Johnson said it’s getting late to add him to the rotation.

"That’s a tough one. The hard part is now you’re so far into it, it’s not fair to him or our guys to entertain that thought. To get into the rotation is almost impossible, so we’ll figure out in the next week what the plan is with him," Johnson said. "It’s unfortunate, he was a big piece of what we were going to do."