BleedGopher
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Per Marcus:
Gophers men’s coach Ben Johnson looked around at his peers at Big Ten basketball media days Thursday, hard pressed to find a program that didn’t have a home-court advantage.
Even the new Big Ten programs UCLA, Southern California, Oregon and Washington seemed to him like they would probably be tough to beat on their respective home floors.
“As we continued to expand this league — you have to win at home now,” Johnson said.
With the Gophers picked to finish last in the conference by the media for the second year in a row, the perception is they might put up the least resistance of anyone at home.
The success the Gophers had at home last season proved otherwise.
The Gophers picked up 16 of their 19 victories at Williams Arena, the most for the program since 2016-17. That tied with Purdue for the second-most home victories in the Big Ten, behind only Nebraska’s 18.
Don’t forget that the Gophers won only six times at home in Johnson’s second season in 2022-23.
“Whatever we can do to help keep that momentum is huge,” Johnson said. “The goal is for our fans to realize it’s fun to feel like you’re a part of winning and to go watch a team that can win.”
Average attendance at Williams Arena for Gophers men’s games declined from 9,451 two seasons ago to 8,139 last season, but the atmosphere at games clearly improved.
“We were talking to a couple Penn State players who were saying how crazy our fan base is,” senior guard Mike Mitchell Jr. said at media day. “It makes our environment that much better. It helps a lot.”
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
Gophers men’s coach Ben Johnson looked around at his peers at Big Ten basketball media days Thursday, hard pressed to find a program that didn’t have a home-court advantage.
Even the new Big Ten programs UCLA, Southern California, Oregon and Washington seemed to him like they would probably be tough to beat on their respective home floors.
“As we continued to expand this league — you have to win at home now,” Johnson said.
With the Gophers picked to finish last in the conference by the media for the second year in a row, the perception is they might put up the least resistance of anyone at home.
The success the Gophers had at home last season proved otherwise.
The Gophers picked up 16 of their 19 victories at Williams Arena, the most for the program since 2016-17. That tied with Purdue for the second-most home victories in the Big Ten, behind only Nebraska’s 18.
Don’t forget that the Gophers won only six times at home in Johnson’s second season in 2022-23.
“Whatever we can do to help keep that momentum is huge,” Johnson said. “The goal is for our fans to realize it’s fun to feel like you’re a part of winning and to go watch a team that can win.”
Average attendance at Williams Arena for Gophers men’s games declined from 9,451 two seasons ago to 8,139 last season, but the atmosphere at games clearly improved.
“We were talking to a couple Penn State players who were saying how crazy our fan base is,” senior guard Mike Mitchell Jr. said at media day. “It makes our environment that much better. It helps a lot.”
Can the Gophers men’s basketball team build a true home-court advantage?
Gophers coach Ben Johnson and players spoke at Big Ten media day about building on the atmosphere at Williams Arena last season that helped them get 16 home wins.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
