After going 4-16 in Big Ten in Year 1 and 2-17 in Year 2, Minnesota improved to 9-11 in conference play (ninth place) last season, then lost center Pharrel Payne and point guard Elijah Hawkins to bigger NIL deals at Texas A&M and Texas Tech, respectively, and freshman shooting guard Cam Christie to the NBA draft.

Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson made progress last season, but key players entering the transfer portal set him and his team back. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Minnesota men's basketball coach Ben Johnson was fired in the middle of the night after the Golden Gophers went 15-17 in his fourth season

Kent State men's basketball faced Western Michigan in Mid-the American Conference Tournament. Here is a recap and how the game unfolded.

Kent State avoided a scare from Western Michigan in their 73-66 MAC men’s basketball tournament quarterfinal win on Thursday at Rocket Arena. The No. 3 seed Golden Flashes (22-10) will meet No. 2 seed Miami (Ohio) (24-8) in the semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.