Gophers Basketball – Page 3 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Eagles & QB Jalen Hurts Fly in Costly Vikings Home Loss

Posted on October 19, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Shama

The Vikings, struggling with their offense, couldn’t match the passing success of the Eagles today in a costly 28-22 home loss at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Minnesota, now 3-3, was playing at home for the first time since September 21. The Vikings play at the Chargers Thursday night and two weeks from now at the Lions before coming back to Minneapolis on November 9 to play the Ravens.

Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes including two to wide receiver A.J. Brown. Hurts completed 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards while avoiding multiple potential sacks.

“We couldn’t do anything today to slow that man down,” radio analyst Pete Bercich said of Hurts on the Vikings Radio Network.

Coming into the game the prevailing thought was the Vikings were in for a long day if they couldn’t control the Eagles’ running attack led by All-World Saquon Barkley. However, the Vikings held Barkley to 44 yards on 18 rushing attempts and in total gave up 55 yards running.

Blake Cashman, Vikings linebacker back today after a four games absence because of a hamstring, said the defense “loaded the box” to control the run game. However, Hurts put the hurt on the Purple with his arm.

“He had too much time to throw,” Cashman also said on KFAN Radio after the game.

That left the Vikings secondary vulnerable. Isaiah Rodgers got beat on two touchdowns and the other corner Byron Murphy was out of position on the third.

The fourth Eagle score of the day came on a 42-yard interception score by linebacker Jaylx Hunt. The second quarter pick came off an errant throw by Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz. That mistake made the score 14-3 Eagles.

On the next Vikings’ possession Wentz threw another pick on a day where his play improved in the second half after Minnesota trailed 14-6 after two quarters. For the game Wentz was 26 of 42 for 313 yards.

It was a frustrating day for the Vikings offense which made six trips into the red zone but produced just one touchdown, a one-yard third quarter run by Jordan Mason that made the score 21-16 in favor of Philly. Otherwise, the Vikings had to settle for five field goals by Will Reichard, a career record for one game.

Wentz, playing with a painful left shoulder, made a couple of gutsy scrambles on the Vikings’ last drive of the game when they were trailing 28-19. Inside the red zone it appeared he completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson, but the initial call was reversed with the ruling he didn’t control the football. The Vikings settled for a field goal to cut the Eagle lead to 28-22/

Bercich described the controversial call as “unbelievable” while others in Vikings nation, including in the locker room, would have used words frowned upon on the Sabbath and the other six days of the week.

Worth Noting

The Golden Gophers played their best game and earned their biggest win of the season Friday night defeating No. 25 ranked Nebraska, 24-6. In his ninth season, P.J. Fleck set a school coaching record in total career wins over top 25 teams with seven. The other victories are:

2024: over No. 11 ranked USC and No. 24 Illinois.

2023: No. 24 Iowa.

2021: No. 21 Wisconsin.

2019: No. 5 Penn State and No. 9 Auburn.

The Timberwolves Anthony Edwards, who at 24 aspires to be the best player in the NBA, is ranked No. 7 by both Bleacher Report and CBS among top players in the league going into the season. ESPN and Sports Illustrated have him at No. 6, with The Ringer giving him the No. 5 spot.

Edwards has some maturing to do on and off the court. He led the NBA in technical fouls last season.

The Wolves see two of the best players in the world during the first eight days of the season which begins Wednesday night in Portland. Minnesota faces two matchups with Laker superstar Luka Doncic, with the first in Los Angles Friday night and October 29 in Minneapolis. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are in town October 27 to face their Northwest Division rival Wolves.

The Gophers’ Grayson Grove, the 6-9 and 220-pound Alexandria native, has been a power forward in the past but is now switching to center in a reserve role. He will be undersized against Big Ten beasts and admitted that even in practice the “physicality part” is challenging. Grove believes his mobility and outside shooting can provide a change of pace on the floor against opponents to help the team. The redshirt freshman didn’t play last season.

Sportswriters’ birthdays: Gregg Wong, struggling with Alzheimer’s, turned 79 last week. His colleague for years at the Pioneer Press, Patrick Reusse, was 80 on Friday.

Reusse, with the Star Tribune for most of his career, was a fellow columnist with Sid Hartman who died five years ago yesterday, October 18, 2020. Hartman would be 105 if still alive.

Former Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, now with the 4-2 Seahawks, can on Monday night against the Texans achieve the highest passer rating ever by an NFL player in his first four home games, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (129.1 rating with the St. Louis Rams).

No Hay Problema: The Amazing Story of Tony Oliva is on the book market. Authored by Tony’s son, Ric Oliva, this is a children’s book talking about the Hall of Famer’s journey as an immigrant from Cuba and the obstacles he faced. The Olivas will be at the Fan HQ Ridgedale store from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Tuesday to meet the public and sell copies of the book.

ESPN.com’s recent listing of its top100 NHL players had seven from the Stars, six from the defending champion Panthers and three from the Wild. Kirill Kaprizov was No. 15, Brock Faber No. 49 and Matt Boldy No. 53. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/46582574/nhl-2025-26-rankings-top-100-players-predictions-stats

The future of the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course remains in limbo. The Board of Regents has been notified of the school’s intent to sell the 140.9-acres Falcon Heights property, but other public entities have passed on the purchase opportunity and there remains strong pushback from the public. As of several days ago over 1,000 signatures had been recorded on a petition in opposition to selling the legacy course. https://www.change.org/p/save-les-bolstad-golf-course-for-future-generations

Brian Cosgriff, who before retiring this spring from girls’ high school basketball coaching had won eight state titles, was asked by Sports Headliners to name the top teams for the 2025-2026 season. He listed Hopkins, Minnetonka, Providence Academy and Lakeville North.

Best players? Senior Maddyn Greenway, Providence Academy; junior Erma Walker, Hopkins; senior Lanelle Wright, Minnetonka; senior Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton; sophomore Ari Peterson, Minnetonka; senior Cail Jahnke, St. Michael-Albertville.

Cosgriff, 63, is teaching PE at DeLaSalle High School and is not interested in coaching again, and is happy being “done at 3 o’clock” each day.

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2025 Hoops Game Failed but Gophers-Tommies Still Teases

Posted on October 14, 2025October 14, 2025 by David Shama

Niko Medved, the new Golden Gophers men’s basketball coach, will put his team on the floor for home exhibition games this Thursday and October 25 against North Dakota State and North Dakota respectively. Back in June Medved quietly offered to have his exhibition schedule include a first ever matchup with St. Thomas at that team’s new home arena.

The Tommies (after leaving Division III) have competed at the Division I level since the fall of 2021 and some basketball fans are intrigued by the idea of the state’s two Division I teams playing each other. Asked by Sports Headliners on Saturday if he would make a future offer on a game with the Tommies, Medved said: “I don’t know. We’ll see. I mean hopefully at some point we will be able to do that.”

This is the first season Division I teams can play each other in exhibition games open to the public. Medved thought it would be “cool” to play the Tommies at their new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.

The timing wasn’t right for the Tommies, though, who may have been surprised by the proposal. St. Thomas didn’t want the first ever game in the multi-use arena to be an exhibition and had agreed for more than a year to play Army on November 8. The UST women’s team will also play against the Cadets in a historic doubleheader.

Not so subtly, talk of matching up the Minneapolis-based Gophers and St. Paul-based Tommies has gone on for years. Sports Headliners is told Richard Pitino, the Gopher coach from 2013-2021, said he would play the D-III Tommies. Ben Johson, Pitino’s successor and head coach until last March, said no to the potential rivalry game.

At Medved’s introductory news conference in March he was asked about the Tommies. The two schools haven’t played each other in men’s basketball since 1934. He expressed interest in a game then and also noted his friendship with St. Thomas head coach John Tauer.

“I really like John,” Medved said Saturday. “He’s a great guy, a great coach. So, we have a lot of respect for him and what they do.”

From a St. Thomas perspective, where might things be headed for a future meeting between the two schools whose campuses are just a long walk away from each other?

“We’ve said for four years, and we continue to say, we’d love to play the Gophers either in a …game at their place or start a home and home series,” Tauer told Sports Headliners this summer. ”We’d love to play them in a regular season game and our (future) schedule) is wide open.”

Tauer isn’t interested in playing Minnesota in a future exhibition game. Medved isn’t interested at this time in a series of games.

Medved didn’t go into a lot of details, but he said there are many factors impacting Big Ten teams like his that go into the scheduling process. (These can include timing on the calendar, prior commitments with other teams, logistics, and finances.) It’s also no secret that who you play in non-conference games, and whether you win, can make or break an invite to the NCAA Tournament and March Madness. Medved acknowledged you schedule to make the tournament.

The Tommies, who won a Division III title under Tauer in 2016, are the preseason favorite in the Summit League poll to win the conference championship. Last winter the Tommies came within one victory of winning the league’s postseason title. This is the first season the Tommies will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

The Gophers are forecast to finish near the bottom of the 18-team Big Ten. Medved is rebuilding after Johnson’s last team missed the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive year.

While the novice fan is intrigued by a Gophers-Tommies matchup, there is much more upside for St. Thomas. A mid-major program, the Tommies could flaunt their resume (including with state recruits) with a win over a team from the Power Four and prestigious Big Ten Conference.

Possible scenarios from a matchup could look like this:

A blow-out Minnesota win? The public conclusion: “What do you expect from a Big Ten team playing at home?”

A narrow Gopher victory? “See the Tommies could have won. They’re just as good as Minnesota.”

A St. Thomas triumph? “The Gophers can’t even beat a good mid-major program.”

It’s well-known among college basketball programs the Tommies are a risky booking and light years from being labeled a patsy by anyone. No Big Ten team is scheduling them this season or has any recent history with St. Thomas. The analytics and intuition tell Big Ten and other schedule makers not to play the Tommies who have talent starting with the head coach who is among the best in the country.

None of this is to say the Gophers are ducking the Tommies. A game at some point appears likely. Medved believes a matchup is a “great way to get everybody talking about local basketball.”

With a season tickets base expected to be similar in size to the 5,500-basketball capacity of the St. Thomas arena, the Gophers likely will play host to the first matchup in 14,625 seat Williams Arena. It’s believed the Tommies, who are challenged to find nonconference road games against prominent foes, would receive about a $100,000 guarantee to play at Williams Arena. The game could generate 2,500 to 5,000 additional single game ticket sales than normal for a home Minnesota nonleague game.

Gopher players, not having to be concerned about anything but competing against opponents, might welcome facing their neighbors. A small sampling of players last week was favorable about a UST game.

“I would love to play St. Thomas,” said B.J. Omot …”We’ll see who really runs the cities. So that would be pretty cool to play them.”

Guard Isaac Asuma is intrigued, too. “I think it’s slowly getting put into motion, so I am ready for it.”

A third native Minnesotan and Gopher, Grayson Grove, is on board. “That’d be really fun. I know a bunch of the St. Thomas guys. Good friends with a bunch of them, so I think it would be really fun to play against them.”

Gophers Notes

Medved’s team, which opens the regular season at home November 3 against Gardner- Webb, allowed fans into Williams Arena last Saturday to watch an intrasquad scrimmage. The team looked well drilled on fundamentals and effort was apparent.

Playing in front of fans may have prompted nervousness. Neither the maroon nor gold team scored until almost five minutes had elapsed. North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson’s two free throws took the goose eggs off the scoreboard.

Tyson played sparingly at Carolina last season after he transferred from Belmont where he averaged 15 points in 61 games. He told Sports Headliners last Friday his confidence “definitely took a hit” at Carolina where he played eight minutes per game.

Tyson, a 6-foot-7 guard-forward who could be the team’s best three-point shooter and scorer, said he’s “grateful” for lessons learned last year after a 2023-2024 season at Belmont where he was second in the nation in three-point conversion percentage at 46.5.

“I feel really good about my shot right now,” he said. “Honestly, I feel like I feel better about my shot when I am not thinking about it, too much. …Just let me go.”

Tyson is one of several mid-level transfers who are part of an almost totally new Gophers roster from last season. Another is Davidson transfer and forward Bobby Durkin who was asked about the low season expectations for Minnesota in the standings.

“I try not to think too much about that,” Durkin said. “Obviously, I saw it (the Big Ten media poll) and I think we’re not too worried about what that says. I think we have the belief in ourselves that if we can become the best that we’re able to, that we’ll have a great season.”

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Win or Lose, U Can Make Positive Impression at No. 1 OSU

Posted on October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 by David Shama

Everything seems to line up in Ohio State’s favor for its game Saturday night in Columbus on national TV against the Golden Gophers. Superior talent, home field advantage and history all weigh in on the likelihood of a Buckeyes win on NBC TV.

The Gophers, though, with a victory or defeat, can make an important statement about themselves. Upset the nation’s No. 1 ranked team and Minnesota will record one of its most stunning wins in program history. Hang competitively with the Bucks for four quarters and the Gophers will have played their best game of the season and set themselves up for confident performances in upcoming games at home against Purdue and Nebraska. BetMGM, BTW, makes the Buckeyes a 24-point favorite.

The Gophers, 3-1 on the season, have defeated Ohio State three times since 1965. Minnesota, with wins at home in 1966 and 1981, and a victory in Columbus in 2000, has an all-time record of seven wins and 47 losses against the Brutes from Columbus. No Big Ten foe has historically dominated the Gophers like Ohio State.

The 4-0 Buckeyes are the defending national champions and look to be rolling toward another College Football Playoff spot. They have several players ESPN listed on its preseason roster of the nation’s top 100 college players. That group is led by two superstars, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs, who are ranked No. 1 and 5 respectively. Minnesota has one player against Ohio State’s five in safety Koi Perich ranked No. 42.

The Buckeyes are averaging an impressive 36.3 points per game and giving up a nation’s best 5.5. The Gophers are averaging 33.5 and 16.63, with numbers skewed by a 66-0 win over patsy foe Northwestern State.

For Minnesota to stay in the game, the Gophers will need to slow the Ohio State run game and pressure quarterback Julian Sayin. A repeat performance of seven sacks like in last week’s 31-28 win over Rutgers would be a wish come true for the Gophers.

Offensively, the guess here is the Gophers will play for a third consecutive game without star running back Darius Taylor who has become almost as well known for his hamstring injuries as his running and pass catching. That will leave a lot of burden on redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against Rutgers when he completed 31 passes on 41 attempts for 324 yards and three touchdowns (all career highs) with no interceptions as Minnesota rallied from a 14-point deficit to win at home.

The Gophers will need to overcome the crowd chaos of playing in arguably the Big Ten’s noisiest stadium. The “Horseshoe” seats over 102,000 and the decibel can be deafening. Lindsey can forget audibling at the line of scrimmage to change plays. Instead, the Gophers who have practiced this week amidst raucous artificial noise, will rely on hand signals for communications.

Gopher coach P.J. Fleck noted earlier in the week that OSU fans have been asking for a couple of years to see their heroes in a home night game. After fans are tailgating all day, Fleck expects his team to walk into “a really hostile environment.”

“…Our players are just going to have to have incredible poise and execute the small details, and find a way to just continue to get better and go execute the game plan that’s in front of us,” Fleck said.

Fleck refers to the game as both a challenge and opportunity for his team. That includes for individuals like Lindsey, the first-year starter, who against Rutgers further justified the confidence of his teammates and coaches. Fleck already knows Lindsey is a special talent but also realizes the trajectory of progress won’t always be vertical.

If Lindsey on Saturday, though, plays at a higher level than against Rutgers, even BetMGM would like the Gophers’ chances of making an impressive showing at the “Shoe.”

Worth Noting

BetMGM lists the 2-2 Vikings as 3.5 favorites for their Sunday game against the 1-3 Browns in London. Minnesota needs a win, because the next three opponents are the 4-0 Eagles at home and on the road against the Chargers and Lions, both 3-1.

Vikings Donovan Jackson, Ryan Kelly, Michael Jurgens, J.J. McCarthy, Brian O’Neill and Andrew Van Ginkel are ruled out for Sunday’s game, according to the team practice report this morning. Questionable are Tyler Batty, C.J. Ham and Ben Yurosek. Mike Hall is out for the Browns, with Jack Conklin and Greg Newsome questionable.

Viewership of the Steelers 24-21 win over the Vikings last Sunday in Dublin was the second most-watched NFL Network International game ever, with 7.9 million viewers (TV+digital)—trailing only the 2023 Dolphins and Chiefs game in Germany. The total doesn’t include OTA viewership from the Minneapolis and Pittsburgh markets.

It could be the Twins Pohlad ownership group will announce its new minority owners at the MLB Winter Meetings in December.

If the Yankees fire manager Aaron Boone, the Twins would be advised to take a serious look at him to fill their managerial opening.

Veteran sportswriters Jerry Zgoda and Kent Youngblood left the Star Tribune earlier this year. Now Twins beat writer Phil Miller, a terrific reporter, is retiring, too. Last Sunday he posted the following on X:

“Phillies win 2-1 in 10, and that’s a wrap on the Twins’ disappointing 70-92 season — and on my 45-year career in newspapers, which has been the utter opposite of disappointing. To all you Jazz, Utes, Gophers and Twins fans, thanks so much for reading. It’s been an absolute blast.”

Representing the Gopher men’s team at Big Ten Basketball Media Days Oct. 8 and 9 in Rosemont, Ill. will be coach Niko Medved and sophomore guard Isaac Asuma and junior forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Jr. The women’s team contingent will be coach Dawn Plitzuweit and senior guards Amaya Battle and Mara Braun.

Blaze Credit Union, the official credit union of the Minnesota Wild, will have its logo on the team’s home helmets this season. As part of the sponsorship agreement between the two, the Blaze Credit Union’s Hockey Kids4Kids Program will continue. The program encourages youth players to raise funds for kids at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare.

Marc-André Fleury, now in his first season of retirement, was brought to Minnesota in 2022 to be a role model for teammates including now No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavvson. It will be interesting to see if Gustavsson can keep building on past success and have his best season. The Wild open the regular schedule October 9 against the Blues in St. Louis.

The state-of-the-art LaunchPad Golf The Meadows in Prior Lake opens Saturday at 4 p.m. Located close to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and The Meadows at Mystic golf course, the venue will be a year-round entertainment destination.

It’s the first LauchPad location in the United States, and the venue has 40-heated suites (bays) and will be open even when temps are near 20 below. Each of the suites offers ball tracking technology, along with an auto-tee system that pops up the next golf ball after the last one has been hit. The driving range is 243 yards long and golfers can bring their own clubs or have them provided.

Serious golfers can experience some of the world’s most famous golf courses, including Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, The Old Course at St. Andrews, and others. There’s also a variety of different games that are fun for golfers of different abilities, including suite linking technology to compete against an adjacent group.

LaunchPad’s offerings create a welcoming social atmosphere with its sports bar and quality dining options that include shareables and dinner entrees. LaunchPad is a sponsor of Gopher athletics and members of the men’s hockey and basketball team recently enjoyed a visit there.

There will be visitation starting at 11 a.m. Monday at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis for Minnesota golf legend John Harris, 73. A memorial service follows at noon at the church. In addition to excelling in amateur and professional golf, John played on the 1974 Golden Gophers national championship hockey team.

The esteemed Twin Cities Dunkers organization started in 1948 as the Minneapolis Dunkers under the leadership of Norm McGrew. Dave Mona took over in 1999 but will step away at the end of 2026 when Dunkers board member and former Twins president Dave St. Peter takes over as the next president and general manager of the civic and business organization whose activities include raising money for the Minneapolis and St. Paul public high schools to support their athletic programs. Dunkers has raised over $1.5 million for the cause.

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