The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball team delivered its biggest moment of the season on Tuesday night, stunning the No. 22 Indiana Hoosiers 73-64 in their Big Ten basketball opener. The upset instantly energized the home crowd at Williams Arena and gave head coach Niko Medved an emotional breakthrough in his first conference game leading Minnesota basketball.

The Gophers entered the night at 4-4 and on a three game losing streak after a rough stretch in neutral site play. They were shorthanded, already down starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr. to a season ending foot injury, and listed as double digit underdogs against an undefeated Indiana team. Instead of folding, the Golden Gophers controlled the glass, defended with purpose, and delivered one of the biggest early season Indiana Hoosiers upsets in the country.

The Big Ten Men’s Basketball account took to its official X (formerly known as Twitter) to highlight just how meaningful the win was for Medved. The post shared a clip of NCAA analyst Andy Katz interviewing the coach on the court, where Medved became emotional while reflecting on what the night meant to him and to the Minnesota basketball program.

“I'm where I fell in love with the game.”

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Medved’s reaction carries extra weight because of his long ties to the program and the state. The Minneapolis native once served as a student manager for the Gophers before starting a head coaching run that included successful stops at Furman, Drake, and Colorado State. His return to Minnesota this spring was framed as a homecoming and a chance to restore pride in a fan base that has waited years for nights like this.

Now the question becomes whether the Gophers can turn an emotional Wednesday night December upset win into real momentum. The physical, connected performance vs. Indiana looked like the blueprint Medved has preached since he arrived. If Minnesota can bottle that energy as Big Ten play ramps up, the win may be remembered as the night a new era at The Barn truly began.