Big Ten: Minnesota Ends Long Losing Streak With Tourney Win over Northwestern
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Minnesota staggered into the Big Ten Tournament on a seven-game losing streak and looked awful through most of its first-round game with Northwestern on Wednesday night, but the Gophers did everything right in the final four minutes, and that was enough.
Minnesota (14-14) erased a late seven-point deficit with great defense and another scoring drought from the Wildcats (9-15), winning 51-46 at Lucas Oil Stadium. With the win, the Gophers advance to Thursday's second round and a meeting with No. 5 seed Ohio State.
Northwestern trailed for most of the first 30 minutes, but got hot late and took a seven-point lead at 46-39 with 4:15 to go. But the Wildcats never scored again, and the last of their three horrific droughts did them in.
"We've been in that position before and we've let it slip away,'' Minnesota freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. said. "We stayed positive tonight. Marcus (Carr) was terrific. He's always ready and you know he's going to get you a big shot when you need it.
"It was really important for us to get a win because we are still confident, and we feel like we can go on a run.''
The Gophers had a rough night shooting the ball, making only 36 percent of their shots, and they missed 14 of 24 free throw attempts. But they did just enough to advance. Tre Williams led the way with 14 points, Mashburn had 11 and Carr added 10.
Northwestern was awful early, going the first seven minutes without scoring, missing seven straight shots and committing four turnovers. Then they needed another five minutes to score again when Miller Kopp hit a three-pointer with 8:18 to go in the half to cut the Minnesota lead to 16-5. They scratched their way to the break down just 27-20, despite shooting just 25.8 percent from the field.
But then Minnesota experienced the same offensive struggles in the second half. The Gophers were still up 36-30 with 12 minutes to go, but then scored only three points in the next nine minutes. Before long, a Robbie Beran three-pointer gave Northwestern a 46-39 lead.
Tre Williams hit a three for Minnesota and then Marcus Carr hit a pair of pull-up jumpers to put Minnesota back ahead 47-46 with 1:50 to go.
Northwestern couldn't score on their possession, with Pete Nance getting his shot blocked by Brandon Johnson. They then fouled Carr on the other end and he made two free throws to make it 49-46.
Wildcats guard Boo Buie got a good look at the top of the key, but he missed a three-pointer and Eric Curry got the rebound for Minnesota. The Gophers ran down the clock and Carr took a three-pointer from the left corner, but missed. But he hustled down to the other and got a steal from Buie.
Johnson made one free throw, but then Northwestern committed another turnover when Nance lost his balance and traveled in the lane. Carr made one more free throw to make it 51-46 with 9.4 seconds to go. Northwestern went the final 4:15 without scoring.
Minnesota gets No. 5-seed Ohio State in Thursday's second round. It's the second game of the afternoon session and should start around 2 p.m. ET. There are four second-round games on Thursday.
"We feel like we can go on a run,'' Mashburn said.
The top four seeds – Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Purdue – have double byes and don't play until the quarterfinals on Friday.
In the late game Wednesday night, No. 11 seed Penn State was down double digits in the first half but rallied to beat No. 14 seed Nebraska, 72-66.
The Nittany Lions (11-13) did it with offensive rebounding, which they've done all year. They had 14 offensive rebounds, and their second-chance points helped erase an early 15-point lead by the Cornhuskers (7-20).
Penn State had four players in double figures, with defensive specialist Jamari Wheeler leading the way with 19 points. Myreon Jones and Izaiah Brockington had 14 and Sam Sessoms had 11.
Penn State gets No. 6-seed Wisconsin in the second. They will play the final game of the day on Thursday, around 9 p.m. ET
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.