The Gophers’ second-half surge and last-minute hang on at Northwestern on Saturday led to the U’s first win away from Minnesota this season.
Minnesota outscored the Wildcats 24-11 in the final 4 minutes and 39 seconds to produce a 84-78 road win at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.
Before the restart of Big Ten play, the Gophers (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten) were 0-5 away from Williams Arena this season, including a blowout loss at Purdue in December, and were a 5-point underdog at Northwestern (8-6, 0-3).
The U trailed Northwestern 67-60 with under five minutes to go, but staked a 78-72 lead before some nervous inbound plays that allowed the Wildcats to make it 78-76 with 30 seconds left. Bobby Durkin, Cade Tyson and Isaac Asuma each made two free throws down the stretch to seal it.
The top two leading scorers in the Big Ten — Tyson and Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli — squared off Saturday and both filled it up in the second half. Martinelli had a game-high 26, while Tyson had a team-high 24.
But it was Tyson’s deep 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining that proved clutch clutch.
Minnesota also got season scoring highs from Grayson Grove and Isaac Asuma; Ausma had 18 and Grove 12.
The Gophers used an 8-0 run to take a 68-67 lead with 3:25 remaining; it was their first lead since 43-42 early in the second half.
During the run, Grove was rewarded with cuts to the basket and spacing to have three straight dunks. Langston Reynolds distributed during that run and finished with a career-high 13 assists.
The Gophers and Wildcats were tied at 34-34 in a very even opening half that had seven ties and four lead changes.
In the fruit half, Asuma led the way with 11 points off three treys. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson got in foul trouble, but reserve Grove started to step in.
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