Minnesota Defeats Michigan, 87-80
Saturday, February 1, 2003

The 75th anniversary of Williams Arena was commemorated at halftime of the Gophers-Wolverines game on Saturday, and the Barn was rocking throughout the afternoon as Minnesota hung on to beat Michigan, 87-80.

Michigan coach Tommy Amaker called Williams Arena “one of the toughest places to play, maybe one of the more underrated places to play” after watching his team go down to its second road-loss of the week after having run off 13 straight victories, including a 75-63 win over Minnesota in Ann Arbor.

In that win over the Gophers, Michigan was led by its upperclassmen frontcourt of Bernard Robinson, Jr. and LaVell Blanchard. This time, the Gophers big men stepped up and neutralized the Michigan size. However, the Wolverines’ freshmen backcourt duo of Lester Abram and Daniel Horton kept their team in the game, scoring 18 and 20 points, respectively.

The Gophers held the lead most of the game. Michigan was out in front only once, when Blanchard connected on his second three-pointer of the game to make the score 11-10 for the Wolverines. It was the third three-point basket for the Wolverines (Robinson with the other), and Gophers coach Dan Monson then had his team switch from a zone to a man-to-man defense. Blanchard did not score again from the field, not even inside. He went to the free-throw line six times in the first half, making only three of those shots, and he was completely stymied in the second half. Meanwhile, Robinson, after his three-point basket to start Michigan’s scoring, then picked up a couple fouls and found a seat on the bench. Robinson had a three-point basket in the second half, but he also picked up two more fouls and found himself watching down the stretch.

Amaker explained his reason for not putting Robinson back in when the game was on the line, opting instead to stick with freshman Sherrod Harrell. “I liked the way our other guys were playing. I’m not sure anyone was playing tougher than the guys we had on the floor.

“That was the group that made the run for us, and we were going to ride it through.” Minnesota led 44-41 at halftime and stretched it to 50-43, its largest lead to that point. Michigan charged back when center Graham Brown, who had 12 of his 14 points after intermission, drew a foul while making a basket. Brown didn’t covert on the free throw, but the Wolverines kept coming as Horton buried a three-pointer, then stole the ball and fed Abram for a driving lay up to tie the score.

Again, Minnesota responded, going on a 15-4 run, largely fueled by the inside play of sophomore center Jeff Hagen, who came in after Michael Bauer picked up his fourth foul. Hagen had three consecutive three-point plays and then made another basket, scoring 11 straight points for the Gophers. Michigan chipped away at the lead and had a chance to tie the game with under a minute left when Abrams had a good look at the basket from the top of the key. However, Abrams’s three-point attempt missed.

Jerry Holman took a pass inside for a dunk to extend the lead to five. Horton cut the lead to three with a lay up with 20 seconds to play, but it left Michigan with no chance but to foul the Gophers. Twice Kevin Burleson went to the line, and he made all four of his free throws to make the final score 87-80.

Monson praised his senior guard, pointing out that Burleson responded after having made a poor decision on a shot earlier. In addition to his free throws to ice the game, Burleson led the Gophers with seven rebounds.

Monson called it a “team win” but added that the Gophers still had things to work on. “We didn’t rebound well enough and had too many turnovers.”

Meanwhile, even in defeat, Amaker had praise for his squad. “I love our team,” he said. “Our freshmen were an absolute phenomenon. They battled back and gave us a one-possession opportunity to tie the game up. I love that about our team. They showed guts, showed character.”