a 23-8 regular season record in the 2016–2017 season, and a birth to the 2017 NCAA tournament, where they attained a 5 seed and lost to 12-seed Middle Tennessee State to finish with a 24–10 record. Expectations were high coming into the 2017–2018 season, as they only lost one rotational player, Akeem Springs, from the year before. This was evident as Minnesota received its highest preseason ranking in the AP poll since 1993, coming in at 15th. Before the season, things started to unravel for Pitino's team. Sophomore Eric Curry tore his ACL and MCL in late August, forcing him to miss the entirety of the 2017–2018 season. During the beginning of the season, sexual assault allegations came out against senior center Reggie Lynch, which resulted in Lynch's suspension and eventual expulsion from the University of Minnesota. Later in the season, sophomore Amir Coffey suffered a shoulder injury and ended up missing the last 12 games of the season. The Gophers ended the season 15–17, with a 4–14 record in conference play and a first round loss to Rutgers in the 2018 Big Ten tournament. The 2018–2019 season went much better for the Gophers. They finished with a record of 22–13, although they only went 9–11 in conference play. Still, after strong wins over No. 20 Wisconsin, and No. 11 Purdue twice, the Gophers finished 4th in the 2019 Big Ten tournament and returned to post-season play as a 10 seed in the East Region of the 2019 NCAA tournament. In the tournament, the Gophers beat the 7 seed Louisville Cardinals in the first round 86–76. In the Round of 32, the Gophers lost to the Michigan State Spartans 70–50, who would end up the champions of the East Region. The Ben Johnson era (2021–present) On , the University of Minnesota welcomed a former player and former assistant coach Ben Johnson to helm the Men's Basketball program for its next era. Johnson, at 40 years of age, is the 18th head coach in program history. His tenure as a player began after a standout career at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, where he led the private Catholic school to two state championships. He was named twice as a first-team all-state athlete for both basketball and football, and for his senior year was named a Street & Street All-American. His collegiate career took him to Northwestern University for two years, returning