For senior night festivities, Gophers guard Langston Reynolds was joined on the Williams Arena court pregame Saturday by his mother, Shaunta Reynolds, his diminutive “auntie,” his kid brother, older brother and his brother’s fiancé.
“It’s going to be a very emotional moment,” Reynolds told the Pioneer Press on Friday.
Reynolds, a one-year transfer from Northern Colorado, channeled those feelings in the second half against Northwestern, scoring nine straight points to open up a 48-34 lead and made a crucial go-ahead lay-up with 11 seconds left for a 67-66 win at The Barn.
Minnesota (15-16, 8-12 Big Ten) continued to battle with a rotation of only six players and swept the Wildcats (13-18, 5-15).
Minnesota will have a seed between 11 and 13 at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago next week; they will play on Wednesday. Northwestern was playing to avoid a spot the bottom four seeds and a Tuesday game.
Bobby Durkin, who was playing hurt, hit a 3-pointer to extend Minnesota’s lead to 58-48 with nine minutes left.
But Wildcats all-Big Ten wing Nick Martinelli scored eight of the next 10 for Northwestern to cut it to 61-58 with four minutes to go.
Reynolds made two free throws, Martinelli hit a jumper and Jordan Clayton hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to make it 64-63 with 1:34 remaining.
Angelo Caaravino made two free throws and Martinelli missed a free throw. Reynolds grabbed the defensive rebound and went coast to coast and laid it in for a 67-66 lead with 11 seconds.
Martinelli missed a three on the final possession and the Wildcats couldn’t get off another shot.
In the first half, the Gophers led by as many as 16 and 10 at the half. Minnesota shot 65% from the field in opening 20 minutes to take a 39-29 lead.
Isaac Asuma led the U with 11 points, with Cade Tyson contributing 10 and Durkin nine.
The Gophers beat Northwestern 84-78 in December in Evanston, Ill. Martinelli had a game-high 26 points in the defeat.
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