DES MOINES, Iowa _ Minnesota hadn't won an NCAA Tournament game since before Richard Pitino's arrival six years ago, but they were one half away from advancing into the second around Thursday when Wells Fargo Arena turned into the Barn.
A few thousand Gophers fans in attendance made the short trek down I-35 to support their team _ and stood clapping as the players ran out of the tunnel with a halftime advantage.
The 10th-seeded Gophers fed off the crowd's energy, and freshman Gabe Kalscheur scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half for the 86-76 victory against the seventh-seeded Cardinals on Thursday. The Gophers next play Saturday against second-seeded Michigan State, which pulled away from 15-seed Bradley for a 76-65 victory.
The last NCAA Tournament win for the Gophers was when Tubby Smith's team defeated UCLA in Austin, Texas, in 2013. Shortly after a loss to Florida in the next round, Smith was fired and eventually replaced by a 30-year-old Pitino, the son of former Kentucky and Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who had hired Smith.
This connection added to this intriguing first-round matchup. Much was written and said on Pitino facing the program his father rebuilt into a championship-level program before his firing in 2017 amid a federal bribery investigation.
Overshadowed by that storyline was the fact the Gophers finished seventh in the Big Ten and has the talent to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gophers (22-13), who shot 50 percent in the first half, took a 38-33 lead after Amir Coffey nailed a 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer. Coffey had 13 of his 18 points in the first half.
The 3-pointers continued to fall in the second half with Jordan Murphy opening with a 3, which was a surprise with his damage typically being done in the post.
Then, it was Kalscheur's turn. The freshman drilled the next four 3-pointers, including back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to make it 59-43 near the 12-minute mark.
It was a key sequence for Gophers since they were concerned about Murphy, who left the game in pain after taking a hard fall. The All-Big Ten senior forward was checked out by the team trainer on the sidelines.
With Murphy out, Minnesota kept its composure _ even facing a full-court press from the Cardinals (20-14). During one possession, Michael Hurt lobbed a pass over several defenders to Kalscheur, who calmly stepped up and hit a 3.
On the ensuing Gophers possession, Hurt grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Kalscheur for another 3. Kalscheur scored nine straight points to extend it to a 62-43 lead after three free throws with 9:48 to play.
Louisville rallied twice to get within single digits, including after Reggie Perry's 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and a layup from Christen Cunningham to make it 76-69 with two minutes remaining.
Dupree McBrayer missed the front end of 1-and-1 to give the Cardinals a chance to make it a two-possession game, but Minnesota's defense came up with a critical stop.
McBrayer and Daniel Oturu then hit four straight free throws to seal the win for Minnesota.
The Gophers returned five players from their last NCAA Tournament team in 2017, including starters Murphy, McBrayer and Coffey. They were beat by Middle Tennessee in Milwaukee after winning 24 games that season, so there was motivation going into Thursday for Pitino and several veterans.
Murphy and McBrayer finished with 18 and 13 points, respectively. Oturu, another freshman, had 13 points and six rebounds for the Gophers, who ended the game with 10 straight free throws.
Cunningham had 22 points to lead the Cardinals, who shot 44 percent from the field.
