2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

2014–15 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	† 2015 Big Ten Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
2014–15 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
2014–15 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 →

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[]

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[]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
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
Josh Martin PF	Recruiting 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
Nate Mason PG	Recruiting 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
Carlos Morris SF	Recruiting 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
Gaston Diedhiou PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A
Bakary Konate C	Mali^[1]		6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	228 lb (103 kg)	Apr 23, 2014
Bakary Konate C	Recruiting 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: "2014 Minnesota Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 May 2014. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 1 May 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	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	vs. Rutgers First round	W 80–68	18–14	United Center (16,098) Chicago, IL
Mar 12 8:00 pm, ESPN2	vs. 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[]

^ ^a ^b Rayno, Amelia. "With Gaston Diedhiou set to sign, Bakary Konate is Minnesota's top remaining target". Star Tribune.

[Rayno-1] Rayno, Amelia. "With Gaston Diedhiou set to sign, Bakary Konate is Minnesota's top remaining target". Star Tribune.

[1]

v t Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Venues	On-campus YMCA (1895–1896) UM Armory (1896–1925) Kenwood Armory (1925–1928) Williams Arena (1928–present)
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher "Minnesota Rouser" Scandal
People	Statistical leaders
	1901–02 1902–03 1918–19 1979–80 1981–82 1986–87 1988–89 1989–90 1992–93 1996–97 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

2014–15 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t	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