IU men's basketball looks to end skid at Minnesota

“The Barn” has not been kind to the IU men’s basketball team during the Tom Crean era.

Since Crean took the helm in 2008, the Hoosiers are 0-3 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

No. 23/24 IU (21-7, 8-7) will look to end that skid when it takes on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-11, 5-10) at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Hoosiers have lost by an average of 12 points in their three defeats in Minneapolis. At Minnesota, IU has also shot just 37 percent during those games.

The struggles for IU have come despite the Gophers being just 6-10 against Big Ten foes at home during the last two seasons. But for whatever reason, IU has yet to get over that hump.

While IU is looking to snap its three-game Minnesota losing streak, the Golden Gophers have already snapped the Hoosiers’ unblemished home record in the first meeting.

Minnesota came into Assembly Hall and stunned the then-No.7 Hoosiers with a 77-74 win. The loss was IU’s first and only loss on Branch McCracken Court this season.

Not only did it snap IU’s three-game Big Ten winning streak, it also gave Minnesota its first conference win of the season.

The Golden Gophers were led by a career-high 18 points from sophomore guard Austin Hollins. IU suffered the loss despite a 23-point output from freshman forward Cody Zeller.

Momentum could favor IU, considering Minnesota has dropped four games in a row, three of which were played at Williams Arena. Between IU’s losing streak at Minnesota and the Golden Gophers’ February slide, something has to give Sunday.