2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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
Incoming recruits
College recruiting information
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
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
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
Star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : N/A
Gaston Diedhiou PF
Senegal [ 1]
Canarias Basketball Academy
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
224 lb (102 kg)
Apr 11, 2014
Star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : N/A 247Sports : ESPN : N/A
Bakary Konate C
Mali [ 1]
Sunrise Christian Academy
6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
228 lb (103 kg)
Apr 23, 2014
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:
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
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
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 .
References
Venues Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics