Minnesota’s men’s basketball team and Indiana couldn’t figure out which was better in two regular season meetings, so they’ll get one more shot at each other.
This time, though, the stakes are higher and the game will take place on a neutral court in the Big Ten Tournament.
The two teams will play at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the United Center in Chicago.
The Gophers (20-9, 10-6 Big Ten) and Hoosiers (15-12, 10-6) split their season series, with both teams winning at home.
Since Wisconsin and Indiana both won Saturday, Minnesota and Indiana ended in a two-way tie at 10-6.
But Indiana’s win over Michigan State gave it the No. 4 seed, while Minnesota was given the No. 5 seed – its highest ever in Big Ten Tournament play.
The winner of Minnesota and Indiana will take on the winner of Northwestern/Michigan and No. 1 Illinois on Saturday.
Buzard leads qualifying
Minnesota’s men’s distance-medley relay team provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships during the weekend at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
The team of Ryan Ford, Aaron Buzard, Ben Hanson and Erik Grumstrup clocked the fourth-fastest time in school history – more than six seconds faster than the qualifying standard.
In addition, Buzard recorded the third-fastest indoor 400-meter time in school history during preliminary rounds, finishing in a time of 46.50 seconds.
Women’s golf takes third
Minnesota’s women’s golf team finished third out of 18 teams at the East/West Rio Verde Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz., during the weekend.
Sophie Stubbs fired a 14-over 227 to tie for sixth place, while Terra Petsinger also placed in the top 10 with a 15-over 228, good for ninth place.
Minnesota finished 21 shots behind winner Michigan and two behind second-place Iowa.
Women’s tennis 1-1
Minnesota’s women’s tennis team lost for the first time in nearly a month Friday but came back strong Sunday.
Minnesota (5-4, 0-1 Big Ten) lost 5-2 at Iowa in its Big Ten opener, losing for the first time since a Feb. 13 loss to Kentucky.
On Sunday against Drake, though, Minnesota held on for a 4-3 win by taking the doubles point and Nos. 2, 3 and 4 singles.
Alvarez not enough
Senior Guillermo Alvarez continued his dominance, but that wasn’t enough to carry Minnesota’s men’s gymnastics team to a victory Sunday.
Minnesota lost to Nebraska 217.425-214.925 in dual competition in Lincoln, Neb.
Alvarez won his fifth all-around title of the season with a score of 54.400. He won three individual events: floor exercise, pommel horse and vault.
The other bright spot for Minnesota was senior Clinton Mays, who won the still rings with a score of 9.700.
Johnson, either
Despite winning her fourth all-around title of the season, Laura Johnson’s 38.625 could not lift Minnesota’s women’s gymnastics team to victory in Lincoln.
The Gophers’ 194.850 placed second at the triangular meet, topping Air Force (188.875) but falling short of Nebraska (196.150).
Minnesota finished second on the vault, uneven bars and beam, but Johnson’s all-around performance combined with Carolyn Yernberg’s tie for first on the floor exercise was not enough.
Softball goes 1-3 in California
Minnesota’s softball team closed a sour weekend on a strong note Sunday with a 3-2 win over Boston College at the Worth Invitational in Fullerton, Calif.
Senior Rachel Keeney had two hits and scored what would be the eventual game-winning run in the fourth inning.
But the Gophers (10-9) were outscored 22-2 in their first three games of the weekend.
Minnesota dropped games to Nevada, Pacific and Oregon State by scores of 5-2, 12-0 and 5-0, respectively.
