INDIANAPOLIS – Minnesota head coach Dan Monson would agree that March is the best time of year. Monson spent all week stressing to his team that although a 10th place finish in the Big Ten is below par, tournaments have a way of wiping the slate clean.

In the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, Minnesota beat Michigan 59-55, proving that the regular season is but a distant memory. In Minnesota’s last game with Michigan they were down 36-5 in the first half. In Minnesota’s last three games they failed to pick up a single win, but for the 40 minutes Thursday afternoon none of that mattered.

“I don’t believe you gain momentum from game to game in this conference,” Monson said. “You get confidence in the first four minutes of each new game.”

By taking the Wolverines’ early first punch and throwing a few counters, Minnesota earned that confidence. The Gophers’ road the tough inside play from Zach Puchtel and scoring of guard Maurice Hargrow. Puchtel finished with a game high 15 rebounds and Hargrow netted 15 points.

“Early this week we put in the work to do well in this tournament,” Hargrow said. “In our first meeting with Michigan they jumped us early. Tonight we took their opening charge and answered back.”

Monson added that in the beginning of the season Puchtel was an emotional walk-on and Hargrow wasn’t expected to carry the scoring load, but in tournament time “you don’t advance without the contribution of others.”

On the losing side Michigan looked to their star guard Daniel Horton. Horton shot his usual percentage, going 6-13 from the field, but could only manage 14 points.

As Horton goes so does Michigan, and Minnesota took the offensive hit by assigning their usual high scorer Vincent Grier to Horton on defense.

Next up for Minnesota is a match against Iowa. The Hawkeye’s are the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

“We weren’t going to out-athlete Michigan,” Monson said. “And we are not going to out-talent Iowa. We can keep winning if we outfight people.”