Wisconsin keeps its streak alive against Gophers in nail-biter

The Badgers have won seven straight games against Minnesota.

There was a common theme in the four games the Gophers men’s basketball team had played against Wisconsin under coach Ben Johnson entering Tuesday’s latest edition of the border battle rivalry at Williams Arena.

Yes, the Gophers lost all four of those contests. But they did so by just 14 points combined. Every game was a battle. They all went down to the wire.

So, it was only fitting that Tuesday night’s game fit the same mold. 

But now make it five losses by 16 points after falling 61-59 to the 13th-ranked Badgers. 

Trailing 61-58 with just five seconds remaining, Wisconsin wouldn't allow the U to take a potential game-tying 3-pointer, instead resorting to fouling. The Badgers fouled Mike Mitchell Jr. on an inbounds pass, Mitchell made the first free throw on a 1-and-1 and threw the second attempt off the rim in hopes of getting a game-tying shot. 

The ball fell into his hands on the offensive rebound and Mitchell got a good look at a game-tying jumper, only to see it bounce off the rim and to the Williams Arena floor. 

Game. 

"I thought it was gonna go in and I thought I had a tip, me and somebody else too on the backside, but the ball just didn't bounce our way and that's just the tough part about it," Dawson Garcia said of the final play. 

The Gophers had other chances, too. Down 59-58 with 22.2 seconds left, Elijah Hawkins drove to the hoop and had his shot blocked by Tyler Wahl. While trying to grab the offensive rebound, Garcia was called for an offensive foul that gave Wahl a 1-and-1 on the other end. He knocked down both free throws. 

Wahl, a native of Lakeville, Minn., led the Badgers in scoring with 16 points and added four assists, three rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Badgers have now won seven straight border battle matchups against the Gophers. The U's last win against Wisconsin came at home on Feb. 5, 2020. 

The Gophers had a 58-57 lead — the crowd of 10,013 at The Barn was roaring — after Braeden Carrington made 1 of 2 free-throw attempts after being fouled on a shot following his offensive rebound off a miss from Garcia from deep. 

Missed free throws were a theme for Minnesota all night as it shot just 5 for 13 from the charity stripe (38%). The team shot better from 3-point range (42%). 

"Down the stretch, we gotta hit them. I had one at the end," Carrington said. "But we can't beat ourselves up about it. We just gotta keep working at it. We shoot them every day so not seeing them fall definitely sucks, but we gotta be able to step up in those moments. Especially me." 

AJ Storr drove to the hoop on the ensuing possession and was fouled by Pharrel Payne on the floor, but with the Badgers in the bonus, Storr was shooting a 1-and-1. He hit on both ends to put Wisconsin up 59-58.

The Gophers (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, most of that deficit building during a run in which they were held scoreless for 4 minutes, 3 seconds. The Badgers (15-4, 7-1) scored 11 points during that time, with Wahl capping the run by backing down Payne for a bucket in the paint.

Payne started for the second consecutive game for the Gophers, replacing Josh Ola-Joseph in the starting lineup. Ola-Joseph played just five minutes of Tuesday’s game. Johnson said that was situational; they wanted to play a bigger lineup and he didn't want to make substitutions early in the second half when the team was rolling.

Minnesota shaved five points off the early Wisconsin lead to enter the half down 10, then opened the second half on a 7-0 to make it a game. 

Hawkins led the Gophers with 16 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. Garcia had 10 points, three boards and three steals. Payne had nine and seven.

While Wisconsin pushed its lead back to seven midway through the second half, Hawkins shot a 3 from the M logo at center court that bounced off the backboard and in, and Cam Christie hit a 3 on their next possession to cut it back to one. It remained a neck-and-neck game after that. 

Until recent history repeated itself, with Wisconsin making just a play or two more to sneak out another win over the Gophers.