Late turnovers, missed free throws cost Gophers in home loss to Washington

Garcia erupted in the second half after being held to five points in the first half.

Feb 1, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) works around Washington Huskies forward Wilhelm Breidenbach (32) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After getting blown out on the road against No. 7 Michigan State earlier in the week, the Minnesota Gophers fell 71-68 at home Saturday to a Washington Huskies team that had lost six consecutive Big Ten games entering the showdown.

Dawson Garcia, who picked up two fouls early and was limited to nine minutes in the first half, scored 23 points in the second half after scoring only five points on 2-of-4 shooting in the first half. It was his seventh straight game with 20-plus points, but his second-half heroics were overshadowed by late turnovers and missed free throws.

The Gophers are now 11-11 overall and 3-8 in the Big Ten.

Here's how it went down...

Garcia was stuck on five points until he scored 14 straight points starting when the clock hit 12:36 to play in the game. The 14 consecutive points is tied for the most by a Big Ten player in any game this season.

Garcia scored an and-one on a driving layup with 12:36 left to trim the deficit to three, 47-44. His jumper with 10:18 to go got Minnesota within 51-46. A pair of free throws followed by another bucket made it 51-50 with 8:53 to go, and then he gave Minnesota the lead with a pair of free throws with 8:13 remaining. Trailing 57-52, Garcia drilled a three to bring the Gophers within two, 57-55.

After a free throw by Lu'Cye Patterson snapped Garcia's scoring streak, he picked it back up with a transition attack to draw a foul for two more free throws, making it a two-point deficit at 60-58.

Down 63-60, Garcia pump-faked a three and drove for another layup to make it a one-point game with 3:34 to go. With 2:44 to play, Garcia drew another foul and sank one of two free throws, tying the game at 64-64.

After a very questionable foul put Washington at the line, the Huskies took a 65-64 lead. Then Garcia and Patterson turned the ball over on three straight possessions and Minnesota was down 67-64 with 35.8 seconds left.

Garcia scored in the paint with 12 seconds left to get within one point, but the Huskies hit two free throws to make it 69-66 with 9.7 seconds on the game clock and then elected to foul Garcia with 7.2 seconds left. Garcia missed both freebies and that as the final nail in the coffin.

Gophers killers on the day were:

— Getting out-rebounded 33-25, including 13-5 on the offensive glass. The Huskies attempted 11 more shots (55 to 44) than Minnesota.

— Going 16 of 24 at the free-throw line compared to Washington's 18-of-21 performance.

— No secondary scoring option. Garcia was 9 for 12 from the field while the rest of the team was 14 for 32.

— Exhaustion? Minnesota kept the same five players (Dawson Garcia, Femi Odukale, Frank Mitchell, Lu'Cye Patterson and Mike Mitchell) on the floor for the final 16:36 of the game, with the exception of Isaac Asuma checking in with 23 seconds to go.

Washington entered the game on a six-game losing streak. The stretch included five straight games against ranked Big Ten opponents, including Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and Oregon.

Up next for the Gophers is a road game against Penn State at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday.