The Gophers’ effort to bring in a new men’s basketball coach might have had a big domino fall in Seattle on Sunday.

Colorado State and its head coach Niko Medved — the U’s top candidate for the job — lost a heartbreaker, 72-71, to Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Colorado State senior Jalen Lake hit a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Rams a 71-70 lead with six seconds left. But Maryland star Derik Queen made a buzzer beater for the win and keep Medved’s team from the Sweet 16.

With the Rams season now done, the U’s effort to bring in Medved, which was already advanced, could speed up in the next few days.

Medved has taken Colorado State to three NCAA tournaments over the last four years, but this year’s run ended at the hands of the second-place team in the Big Ten regular season.

Maryland, an 8-point betting favorite, trailed 37-30. The fourth-seeded Terrapins got hot from deep in the second half and barely edged Medved and the Rams.

Medved emerged as the leading candidate for the Gophers job more than a week ago, but the U needed to be patient after his Rams team won the Mountain West Conference tournament title and earned its automatic bid for March Madness.

Colorado State has been one of the hottest teams in the country —  won 11 straight games, each by at least eight points — and that continued in the openingt round

The Rams, a No. 12 seed, were one of the few double-digit seeds to win its first-round game, a 78-70 win over No. 5 Memphis on Friday.

Medved led the Rams to its first win in the tournament’s Round of 64 since 2013. The program is 6-13 in the NCAAs, including a win over Virginia in the First Four and a loss to Texas in the first round in 2024.

On Friday, Medved made a halftime adjustment to slow down Memphis big man Dain Dainja, a Park Center grad and Illinois transfer, by sending more double teams at the 6-foot-9, 270-pound load in the paint. .

The Gophers’ effort to bring in Medved has been a bit complicated by geography.

While Colorado State was playing in Seattle, Gophers Athletics Director was in Milwaukee on Sunday, sitting curtsied at Fiserv Forum preoccupied with his role on the NCAA selection committee and the Illinois-Kentucky, Iowa State-Mississippi games.

The Gophers want to move quickly and it’s important to do so.  The NCAA transfer window opens Monday and the Gophers will need another rebuild this offseason.

Since the firing of Johnson on March 13, current Minnesota players have been able to enter the portal earlier than other teams with sitting coaches. Three have taken advantage of the head start: junior forward Frank Mitchell, sophomore wing Kadyn Betts and injured senior guard Tyler Cochran.

Those players also have the option to return to the U, if the next coach wants them and can successfully recruit them back.

In the regular-season finale, Minnesota honored 10 seniors, including all-Big Ten forward Dawson Garcia and its four other starters — guards Lu’Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale, Mike Mitchell and forward Parker Fox — and others on the roster.

Colorado State star Nique Clifford, a projected second-round NBA draft pick, is a transfer from Colorado and led the Rams on Sunday.

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