Gophers Blow Lead, Come Back to Beat Illinois in Overtime
January 28, 2012

Austin Hollins tied the game with a three-point play with four seconds left in regulation, and Andre Hollins scored six points in overtime to lead Minnesota to a 77-72 win before the first sellout of the year at Williams Arena. The Gophers evened the season series, having lost their Big Ten opener in double overtime in Champaign to the Illini.

Minnesota built a 10-point lead in the second half but allowed Illinois to come back with a 15-2 run, in part due to poor free-throw shooting. The Gophers missed six of their first seven shots from the line in the second half, including the front end of three one-and-ones.

The Illini held a 58-55 lead when Elliott Eliason went to the line with 1:07 left in regulation time. He made the first and missed the second. However, Rodney Williams stepped around Brandon Paul for the rebound, and his putback dunk tied the game. It didn’t last long, as Sam Maniscalco hit D. J. Richardson with a pass for a layup and then found Joseph Bertrand for another layup to give Illinois a 62-58 lead.

Austin Hollins hit a three-point basket with 29 seconds left to pull within 1, and the Gophers fouled Paul with 12 seconds left. The Illinois junior, who scored 43 points in an Illini upset of Ohio State, made both free throws, and the Gophers came downcourt, needed 3 to tie.

Seeing an opening in the lane rather than the perimeter, Austin Hollins drove toward the basket. Center Meyers Leonard put up his arms and made contact as Hollins released the ball. A whistle sounded, signaling a foul on Meyers, and the crowd then exploded as the ball rolled on the rim and dropped through with 4 seconds on the clock. Hollins converted the free throw, and the game went to overtime.

The foul on the 7-foot-1 Leonard was his fifth, and he joined the Gophers’ big man, Ralph Sampson, who had fouled out earlier, on the bench in overtime. Leonard was a bigger loss as he had scored 17 points in the game and had 13 rebounds (6 offensively) along with 4 blocked shots.

Leonard had easily won the game’s opening jump ball from Rodney Williams, but, with Leonard gone, Williams controlled the tap against Nnanna Egwu to start overtime. Austin Hollins drew a foul and sank both free throws, Andre Hollins followed with a jumper, and the Gophers built a lead they held throughout the overtime period to up their conference record to 4-5. Illinois, which hasn’t won since beating Ohio State (which was then ranked number five in the nation), lost its third straight game to drop to 4-4.

Some reporters questioned the wisdom of Hollins going for a two-pointer with so little time remaining when the Gophers needed three and were still skeptical when Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said, “We were looking for a three, but if he can take it all the way, that’s the way we operate.”

Illinois coach Bruce Weber said his thought was, “Thank you,” as he saw Hollins pass inside the three-point arc and that he questioned the foul on Leonard. “It’s a physical game and then a little bump when he [Leonard] is trying to get out of the way,” is how Weber described the key call that helped send the game into overtime.

Paul led all scorers with 28 points, 22 of them coming after halftime. Paul, with no rebounds in the first half, had seven in the second and two in overtime. He came into the game averaging 14.0 points per game, although his average in Big Ten games was 18.9. Paul has also been shooting well from the outside, although, in the loss to the Gophers, he was only 1 of 8 on three-pointers, and his only successful shot from beyond the arc was after the Gophers had the game in hand in overtime.

Austin Hollins, who made all four of his free throws in overtime, and Chip Armelin, who came off the bench and hit three three-pointers, led the Gophers with 14 points.

Minnesota, which helped its chances to make the NCAA tournament after having started the conference season with four losses, now goes to Iowa and Nebraska before coming home for a pair of tough games against Wisconsin and Ohio State.

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