Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson learned from last season to put his team in a better spot for the NCAA tournament with a stronger nonconference schedule.
Gophers reveal men’s basketball nonconference schedule with a high-profile trip to ESPN event in Orlando
Coach Ben Johnson had hoped to toughen the challenge and achieved that by signing on for back-to-back games against prominent teams.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 23, 2024 at 5:26PM
The Gophers non-league slate for the 2024-25 season released Friday again lacks much punch at home but this time features an ESPN event that will give a new squad high-quality opponents early in the season.
“Definitely is a schedule we think will be competitive,” Johnson said. “We got at least three to four NCAA tournament teams from the year before, which I think will be a good challenge. We’ve got different styles, which I wanted to try to get.”
Last season, Johnson’s third as Gophers head coach, they made a 10-win improvement, finishing 19-15, but they had the worst nonconference strength of schedule in the nation, per Kenpom.com.
During Thanksgiving week this year, on Nov. 28 and 29, the Gophers will play in the ESPN Events Invitational. After opening against Wichita State, Johnson’s squad will play either Florida or Wake Forest the next day at the Wild World of Sports Complex in Florida.
“I’m really happy about Orlando,” Johnson said. “Wichita State is a good and hungry program. Wake Forest will be really good this year. Florida [could] be nationally ranked to start the year.”
The Gophers were originally expected to play at Missouri this season as part of a home-and-home series. That game is now planned for a future date, and Johnson said scheduling another home-and-home with a power conference opponent fell through as well.
“People now want to do neutral [site] games,” he said. “It’s so hard to get the home-and-home. It’s not this year, but we’ll continue to look for years to come. That’s the next step. When you up your schedule is can you get in a tournament where you can win a championship? And then, can you find a way to get not a neutral but a quality home-and-home?”
The regular-season opener for the Gophers is Nov. 6 against Oral Roberts at Williams Arena. An Oct. 29 exhibition game against Hamline at the Barn was also added.
Other non-league home opponents for the U: Omaha, North Texas, Yale, Cleveland State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Bethune-Cookman, Central Michigan and Morgan State.
2024-25 Gophers men’s basketball nonconference schedule
Tipoff times and broadcast plans TBD
Nov. 6: vs Oral Roberts
Nov. 9: vs. Omaha
Nov. 13: vs. North Texas
Nov. 16: vs. Yale
Nov. 19: vs. Cleveland State
Nov. 25: vs. Central Michigan
Nov. 28: vs. Wichita State at ESPN Events Invitational, Orlando
Nov. 29: vs. Florida or Wake Forest at ESPN Events Invitational, Orlando
Dec. 1: vs. Bethune-Cookman
Dec. 21: vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Dec. 29: vs. Morgan State
Esko’s Koi Perich, who stuck with the Gophers after being heavily recruited by Ohio State, has overcome a hamstring injury and is learning fast.
