A late surge completed a 72-73 comeback win over Butler
Trialing for most of the second half, Minnesota scored the final four points of the game to beat Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse 72-73 to advance in the NIT. It was Elijah Hawkins nailing 2 free throws with 5 seconds remaining that sealed the game, but this was a total team effort.
The Gophers got 25 points from Dawson Garcia and then double-digit scoring from four others. This balanced attack was facilities by Hawkins dishing out 15 assists to go with his 11 points. Pharrel Payne was dominant inside, drawing a lot of attention and Parker Fox brought the energy that he often does, finishing the final few critical minutes on the floor.
But things looked bleak for Minnesota in the final 2 minutes. Garcia made a layup to tied the score 67-67 with 2:07 remaining. Butler’s DJ Davis quickly nailed a three, this third of the game, to put the Bulldogs ahead 67-70. Garcia missed an open three on the ensuing possession and this is when the win probability began to fall sharply for the Gophers.
At the point of Garcia’s game-tying basket, the Gophers had a 34% chance to win. Davis’ following three dropped that down to 17.6% and then when Garcia missed his open three the number dropped to 9.8%.
This was not the ideal sequence.
Both teams traded misses until Fox beat the Butler defense back for a fast-break layup, assisted by Hawkins. This cut the deficit to 1, 69-70 with 54 seconds on the clock.
21.4%? So you’re telling me there’s a chance! Down one, on defense and nearly a full minute remaining is tough but doable, right?
It was doable until Jahmyl Telfort hit a jumper with 39 seconds on the clock, pushing the lead back to 3. The win probability dropped back down to 12.1%.
Timeout Minnesota and they came out getting Garcia isolated for a driving, left-handed layup with 22 seconds. The win probability only jumped up to 15.7% with the score 71-72, Butler ball and the shot-clock off. The Gophers would have to foul and hope the best, right?
Wrong.
Butler wisely inbounded to Davis who is the nation’s leader in free throw percentage at 97%. So Minnesota played tough defense on him, hoping he’d pass out and then they would surly foul. Davis did attempt a cross-court pass that was stolen by Fox!
Fox threw the ball up to Cam Christie who was unable to convert a contested shot from 2-feet but Hawkins grabbed the rebound among the big men and was fouled on his putback attempt.
With 5 seconds remaining, Hawkins made both free throws to put the Gophers ahead 73-72.
- 30.6% on the steal and subsequent foul
- 61.1% after the free throws
But Minnesota still had to defend.
Butler advanced the ball to half-court and called a timeout with 1.9 seconds on the clock. They inbounded the ball and took a long two-pointer from the corner that missed and the Gophers came away with a win. In a matter of seconds the Gophers went from less than a 10% chance of winning to come away with the victory.
A win that took some resiliancy and fight till the end. A win that took the entire team, not just being carried by a hot hand. This one was fun to watch.
Up next, the Gophers will play on Saturday against the winner of tonight’s Indiana State/SMU game.