Widely predicted to finish in the conference cellar this season, Minnesota nearly finished at .500 in Big Ten play.

However, a chance to reach that mark came up short as the Gophers lost 90-66 at Northwestern on Saturday night.

Dawson Garcia led the Gophers with 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting, Elijah Hawkins added 14, but a disappointing defensive effort was too much to overcome.

The conference tournament starts Wednesday at Target Center with the bottom four teams in action. Minnesota (18-13, 9-11 Big Ten) will finish no worse than 10th, meaning a likely 5:30 p.m. Thursday debut. Running the table is probably needed for Minnesota to make the NCAA tournament.

The Gophers have lost four of five.

“We got to find a way to play better. I think that’s the most important thing, We got to find a way to get back in a rhythm. We got to find a way to get back confidence-wise on the defensive end, and we’ve got to do it in a hurry and be able to do it consecutively,” coach Ben Johnson said on the KFAN postgame show.

“… The disappointing part is that we’ve shown we’ve been capable, but now we’ve really got to put it to paper and we’ve got to figure out a way to translate it to the games.”

Northwestern (21-10, 12-8), which ended a two-game slide on Senior Night, still has a chance for a double bye.

Brackets will be announced after Sunday’s six conference games.

Minnesota shot a respectable 49.1%, including 43.8% from deep, but it was no match for the firing-on-all-cylinders Northwestern offense.

The Wildcats finished at 58.6%, including 10 of 18 from deep, and they had 23 assists on 34 baskets while committing just one turnover.

“They got into a rhythm early and made shots all game, and we could never defensively get stops we needed to get,” Johnson said.

Northwestern could not have been much better in the first, shooting 70%, including making seven of 11 from deep, and did not turn the ball over in opening a 53-41 lead at the break.

After missing seven of its first nine shots, Minnesota bounced back to shoot 53.3% in the first 20 minutes, including 6 of 10 on 3-pointers, an area where the Gophers have struggled this season.

The Gophers led just twice at halftime in conference play.

Northwestern quickly pushed its lead to 17 in the second half, but a 3-point play by Garcia got the Gophers within 13 midway through the half.

The Wildcats provided a golden opportunity for Minnesota to get even closer by missing 10 straight shots, but the Gophers missed five of six and turned the ball over once in that stretch.

An 8-0 run put Northwestern ahead 85-63 with 2:36 left.

“The last 10 minutes they really upped the ante and we just did not respond,” Johnson said.

Minnesota has not finished .500 or better in the league standings since 2016-17 and has failed to reach that level 19 times in 24 years.

Still, in Johnson’s third season there has been marked improvement for a program that was 4-16 and 2-17 in conference play in the former Gophers’ first two seasons at the helm.

Cam Christie had his second straight tough shooting night, missing all six shots and finishing scoreless. He had eight points on 2-for-13 shooting Wednesday in a loss to Indiana.

Guard Braeden Carrington scored eight points in his return to the Minnesota lineup after missing two games recovering from a concussion. However, Joshua Ola-Joseph was out dealing with concussion-like symptoms.

Orlando City struck first, but Minnesota United got the last laugh on Saturday.

Duncan McGuire scored 13 seconds into the game for Orlando, but with it tied 2-2, Bongi Hlongwane scored a winning goal in the 96th minute to give the Loons a 3-2 win at Inter & Co. Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

MNUFC (2-0-1) remained undefeated and kept it alive against one of the Eastern Conference favorites in Orlando City (0-2-1)

In the opening sequence of the game, Loons midfielder Hassani Dotson had under-hit long pass that Orlando pounced on and Duncan McGuire scored 13 seconds into the match.

Orlando, which hadn’t scored in the opening two MLS games, was off to a great start. It was Orlando’s fastest goal in club history, while for Minnesota, it tied Sebastian Blanco’s 13-second finish in 2022 for MNUFC’smark  fastest goal conceded.

Teemu Pukki answered within four minutes. His high-pressing action forced Pedro Gallese to turn the bal over. Pukki won it back and scored on an empty net from a tight angle.

Pukki gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the 38th minute. Off a pass Robin Lod, Pukki’s outside-the-box shot was tucked inside the near post.

Those two goals were the opening two goals for the Finn this season. He scored 10 in half a season with the Loons last year.

McGuire used the time and space provided by Micky Tapias to tuck a shot inside the far post to equalize in the 84th minute

Interim head coach Cameron Knowles made one change to the starting XI from the 1-1 draw with Columbus Crew last Saturday. Lod, who missed last week with a calf injury, returned to the Loons midfield, with Alejandro Bran dropping to the bench.

Orlando City played without Facundo Torres, who led the club with 14 goals last season. Torres fell hard on his shoulder during a Concafac Champions Cup match against Tigres on Tuesday.

Briefly

New Loons head coach Eric Ramsay has arrived in Minnesota and will be begin work on Monday. The Apple TV broadcasters shared a development during its broadcast that its undetermined if the former Manchester United assistant coach will take over MNUFC before the LAFC match at Allianz Field next Saturday or if the club will give him more time with a no-game weekend coming before the Philadelphia United match on March 30.

In this same spot a year ago, Edina had its heart broken by conference rival Minnetonka in the Class 2A state boys hockey title game.

Facing a similar fate in the third period Saturday night, the Hornets determined they would not to be denied.

Edina flipped the switch in the final stanza, outplaying Chanhassen for the first two-thirds of the final frame to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory in the championship bout at Xcel Energy Center.

The title is Edina’s 14th.

Edina’s Bobby Cowan delivered the game-winner on the power play with seven minutes to play, walking the puck to the top of the circles before sniping the top left corner.

The Storm put on a furious push over the game’s final few minutes, creating a number of chances around the net, but couldn’t slip a puck past Edina goalie Joe Bertram, who tallied 33 saves.

Chanhassen was Minnesota state hockey’s David a week ago, slaying Minnetonka in the section final to reach its first state tournament. But, as the tournament wore on, it became clear the Storm were anything but an underdog.

They were every bit as good as their No. 5 rank in the state and No. 2 seed in the tournament suggested.

Both top-seeded Edina (26-4-1) and Chanhassen breezed through the first two rounds, setting up a titanic matchup in Saturday’s final. For two periods Saturday, it looked as though the tournament debutant was going to attain the ultimate glory in its first bite at the apple.

Chanhassen looked like the better team, even in a first period that saw both teams generate high-quality scoring chances neither would finish. The Storm finally broke through in the second, as Tyler Smith generated a beautiful tip off the shot of Ben Curtis from the point to sneak the puck inside the far pipe.

The Storm (25-5) carried the 1-0 advantage into the final frame. There was a time when it looked as though that’d be enough.

Chanhassen features star goaltender Kam Hendrickson — likely the state’s top netminder — and a generally stout defense. And Edina didn’t generate any sort of pressure in the second frame.

But the Hornets demonstrated their championship mettle in the third. The equalizer was essentially a prayer, as Edina’s Robbie Hoch sent a puck on net from the point that appeared to bounce off a Chanhassen skater in front of the net to deflect past Hendrickson — who finished with 21 saves — and into the net. Sometimes, those are the types of bounces required to win state titles.

That goal ignited Edina, who generated a pair of power plays over the next few minutes, cashing in on the second one to secure the game-winner.

‘LOOOUUU’

Lou Nanne who will call his 60th and final state hockey tournament this week received a jersey before the start of the Class 2A championship game of the State Boys Hockey Tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Moments before delivering his final state tournament broadcast for Channel 45, Minnesota hockey icon Lou Nanne was honored on the ice with a commemorative state tournament jersey and numerous loud “LOOOUUUUU!” chants from the fans.

Nanne was honored on the jumbotron late in the third period of the Class 2A title game and received a standing ovation from those in attendance as he was shown on the video board.

Briefly

The announced attendance of Saturday’s Class 2A final was 20,356 — a state final record.

Cretin-Derham Hall downed Grand Rapids 6-3 in the third-place game.

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Thousands of Twin Cities janitors have reached a tentative deal after striking, picketing and rallying last week following months of bargaining, the SEIU Local 26 announced on its Facebook page Saturday.

Commercial janitors subcontracted to clean buildings across the Twin Cities reached the agreement at 4 a.m. Saturday morning on the heels of a 20-hour bargaining session that began Friday morning. This was the first bargaining after a historic three-day strike at more than 100 buildings earlier this week.

Most of the janitors work as subcontractors for companies such as ABM, Marsden and Harvard to “clean buildings housing some of the richest corporations in the world,” the union wrote on its Facebook page.

The tentative agreement will go to union members to review and vote on later this week.

“We fought extremely hard and we got the best deal we’ve ever got because we were willing to go out on strike,” said Mike Bartos, a janitor with Marsden. “We won a retirement plan and higher raises, and we helped expand union rights. We are proud of how hard we fought and are going to be ready to come back in four years to keep winning more of what we deserve.”

The tentative deal calls for an increase of wages for all workers to $20 an hour, fully employer-paid 401K account for the first time, life insurance for the first time, increased sick days and floating holidays, lower healthcare costs and more.

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