Gophers men's basketball coach Ben Johnson expressed his support for the Michigan State community after Monday's campus shooting in East Lansing, Mich., and said he doesn't know when Wednesday's postponed game will be rescheduled.
Gophers coach Ben Johnson shows support for Michigan State; plans for playing game uncertain
Minnesota and Michigan State hope to find a date when the game, originally set for Wednesday, can be played in the aftermath of Monday's shooting that left three people dead.
February 15, 2023 at 4:16AM
Johnson reached out to his team Monday night after Michigan State police reported that three people were killed and five injured in the shooting. All campus events, including athletic competitions, have been called off through Wednesday.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo and Johnson had a quick conversation by phone Monday night.
"I've got a great relationship with him," Johnson said Tuesday on his radio show. "He's so invested in that community. The hardest thing for him is he almost feels like that's someone going into your backyard. He is Michigan State. He is that campus. He takes so much pride in it. I just wanted to check in with him. Make sure he knew that we were thinking about them."
The Gophers (7-16, 1-12 Big Ten) had planned to travel to Michigan State on Tuesday to prepare to play the following day at the Breslin Center.
"When we all got word of what took place the first thought is you don't think about the game," Johnson said. "You don't think about next day's practice. Your thoughts and prayers go to that community. Every person is affected, whether they were directly or indirectly. Just being on that campus."
This is the second time this month a Gophers game has been called off. They will play five games in 13 days after last week's game at Illinois was rescheduled to next Monday because of COVID-19 issues in the Minnesota program that left the team without enough healthy scholarship players.
The Gophers, who have been without their leading scorer Dawson Garcia (bone bruise) for five games, played with eight scholarship players in a 68-56 loss Sunday against Iowa at Williams Arena. Their next game is Saturday against Penn State at home.
The Big Ten is working with the Gophers to reschedule their matchup with Michigan State, but the logistics have been difficult to figure out. The regular season ends on March 5, with the conference tournament set to start three days later.
"The only way you're going to make it work is you're going to have to move a game," Johnson said. "So, it's going to be impacting somebody else and another team. That's where it gets tricky, especially this late in the year."
Gophers coach P.J. Fleck and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, both steeped in the rivalry’s tradition, have seen the past three meetings decided by 10 points combined.
