Gophers destroy Nebraska despite digging big hole, losing Dawson Garcia

The Gophers turned a 15-point deficit at the half into an 11-point victory.

The Gophers looked destined for a blowout home loss to Nebraska on Wednesday night but they overcame an injury to their leading scorer and a 17-point deficit and wound up pulling away from the Cornhuskers for a 76-65 win. 

The victory gets Minnesota to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten. 

Gophers head coach Ben Johnson made one change to the starting lineup, putting Isiah Ihnen on the bench and inserting true freshman guard Cam Christie into the starting five alongside Dawson Garcia, Elijah Hawkins, Josh Ola-Joseph and Elijah Hawkins. 

The change, designed to ignite a slow-starting Minnesota offense, didn't work out as Garcia turned his ankle two minutes into the game. The former prized recruit from Prior Lake, who scored 36 against Ohio State and was averaging 20 points per game, played just six minutes and didn't attempt a shot.

Without Garcia, Minnesota trailed 39-24 at the half, having trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, and then shocked the 'Huskers with a dominating second half, fueled by a 33-9 run that turned a 15-point halftime deficit into a 57-48 lead with 8:46 to play – and unlike they did in losses to Missouri and San Francisco, the Gophers didn't collapse down the stretch. 

Nebraska cut the lead to five before Hawkins buried a deep 3 to put Minnesota up 68-60 with just over two and a half minutes to go. Hawkins shot 46% from 3 at Howard last season and he's shooting 42.3% in his first season with the Gophers. 

Minnesota outscored Nebraska 52-26 in the second half. 

Key stats

• Elijah Hawkins: 12 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds
• Braeden Carrington: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
• Josh Ola-Joseph: 15 points, 5 offensive rebounds
• Pharrel Payne: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Mike Mitchell: 12 points, 5 steals
• Cam Christie: 9 points

Minnesota now has a chance to stack up some wins with five non-conference games before returning to Big Ten action Jan. 4 at Michigan. 

Up next: Gophers vs. Florida Gulf Coast, Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.