Gophers Snatch Defeat from Jaws of Victory
March 7, 2009

Neither coach had seen anything like it. After the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team at Williams Arena had out-rebounded Michigan 30-13 and had shot 55 percent from the field (to 48.9 for the Wolverines), the home team still was defeated by three points.

“I don’t think I have ever coached in a game with a 30-13 rebounding average and lost,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith told reporters after the game, won by Michigan, 67-64. Earlier, Michigan coach John Beilein told the same gathering: “That’s the first time I’ve seen a team that got out-rebounded 30-13 and won the game.”

This was a game that both teams needed to win in order to keep alive chances of a NCAA tournament invitation. It was Minnesota’s game to win with a 51-39 lead with 13:20 left.

Here’s what happened next:

***Michigan’s outstanding sophomore guard Manny Harris scored on a lay-up and was fouled by Damian Johnson. His three-point play drew the Wolverines within nine points of the Gophers.

***A pair of Lawrence Westbrook free throws (he was nine-for-nine on the day) gave Minnesota an 11-point lead with 12:35 showing on the clock.

***Paul Carter fouled Michigander DeShawn Sims, who made one of two free throw attempts. Freshman Jamal Lucas-Perry canned a three-pointer, and the score was Minnesota 53, Michigan 46. Ralph Sampson answered with a Gopher basket, and it was 55-46. A Sampson free throw gave back the 10-point lead with 10:11 remaining.

***Lucas-Perry hit a pair three-pointers (Michigan made nine during the course of the game), and all of a sudden, it was 56-52. Lucas-Perry followed his treys with a pair of free throws. The scoreboard read: Minnesota 56, Michigan 54 with 8:13 left.

***Westbrook hit a jumper to give the Gophers a four-point lead, but Harris scored off a Minnesota turnover. This was followed by a Sims scoring on a jump shot. The game was tied at 58 with six and one-half minutes left.

***Sims broke the tie and gave Michigan the lead with a pair of free throws. Sims had been fouled by Blake Hoffarber. Devoe Joseph answered with a field goal to tie the score with 4:47 showing on the board.

***Sims came through for the Wolverines with a successful jump shot attempt for a 62-60 Michigan lead. Harris supplied the dagger with a three-point basket and a five-point Wolverine advantage.

***With just over a minute to play Westbrook was fouled by Zack Novak. He made both free throws, and it was 65-62, Michigan.

***A rim-rattling dunk shot by Sims gave the Michiganders a 67-62 lead. Sims then fouled Westbrook who made both free throw attempts. This ended the scoring for both teams.

What happened next was the most controversial play of the game. With six seconds left, Minnesota drove the length of the floor. Westbrook hit a three-pointer, and the majority of the sellout crowd of 14,625 thought the game was tied at 67. But hold everything. Coach Smith had called a timeout with 4.1 seconds showing on the clock. The timeout was called prior to Westbrook’s shot. No basket.

“I thought I had tied the game,” Westbrook said. “I was kind of surprised.”

Smith defended the decision to call a timeout. “I usually call a time out when we only have a few seconds left. I wanted to make sure we had a good look.” Other coaches, however, prefer to “go with the flow” and not allow the opposition to set up a defense.

While coaching philosophies do differ, the fact remains that, after the timeout, Westbrook was unable to duplicate his glorious shot (this time he missed), and the game was lost. That the ball was going to Westbrook was obvious to everyone in the building, especially since the junior guard had single-handedly willed the Gophers to victory over Wisconsin on Wednesday at Williams Arena. The Wolverines put the clamps to Westbrook, and there was no way he could score.

Following the game, Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi commented that “too much” was being made of the timeout call. His argument was that the Westbrook non-score occurred after Michigan defender C.J. Lee “gave up” on guarding Westbrook when he heard the referee whistle time out. Yet, Westbrook denied hearing the whistle as he launched the shot. Could it be that Lee heard what Westbrook could not?

At any rate, the Michigan loss erased what had been a triumphant victory over Wisconsin. Westbrook scored all of his team-leading 15 points in the final minutes to give the Gophers a 51-46 win over the Badgers. (It’s interesting to note that Westbrook didn’t start either the Wisconsin or Michigan game.)

It would appear that the Gophers, who entered the Big 10 season ranked and undefeated will have to win at least one conference tournament game to come off the NCAA tournament bubble and qualify for the Big Dance.