Gophers Come Back to Beat Wolverines 75-67
January 12, 2020

Despite a shoulder injury in the second half, Daniel Oturu scored 30 points to lead Minnesota to a 75-67 win over Michigan at Williams Arena. The Wolverines have been getting torched by opposing centers, and Michigan coach Juwan Howard said he would continue to re-evaluate how to combat it. “I’m always about a growth mindset,” said the center of Michigan’s Fab Five in the 1990s, now in his first season of college coaching. “The bigs have done a phenomenal job scoring against us.”

Playing active defensively, the Wolverines never trailed and built an 11-point lead in the first half. Despite that, Oturu scored 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including one three-pointer. Minnesota scored the final nine points of the half and trailed 31-30 going into the locker room.

The second half opened with the lead changing 11 times. The Gophers started the second half with the ball and grabbed their first lead on a basket by Gabe Kalscheur. Each team countered and regained the lead, Michigan scoring on its first five possessions and Minnesota on its first seven. The Wolverines went in front only one time after that.

With a little under 15 minutes to play, Jon Teske blocked a shot underneath by Oturu, who went to the floor hard and injured his shoulder. He walked off to the locker room, obviously in great pain. The Gophers were ahead 45-41 at this point, but Michigan didn’t capitalize on his absence.

Guard Marcus Carr and forward Alihan Demir picked up the slack, the latter scoring all 13 of his points in the second half with Carr getting 16 of his 21 in the half. “It felt like three or four different games,” said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino. “Michigan building a lead, then Daniel taking over, then Marcus, then Alihan.”

Pitino praised Demir, a 6-foot-9 senior from Ankara, Turkey. “He has good footwork and is patient down low.”

Oturu returned to the floor after the media time out with 11:23 left and Minnesota holding a 49-47 lead. He scored three more points in the game, leaving the scoring load to Carr and Demir.

After staying close but constantly playing catch up in the second half, the Wolverines took a 65-64 lead on a three-pointer by Franz Wagner, a freshman from Berlin with 3:22 left. Oturu immediately answered with a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Carr. The Gophers scored the next nine points for a 75-65 lead before Zavier Simpson scored in the final seconds.

Oturu’s stuff to put Minnesota ahead to stay put a damper on Michigan, according to Howard. “We weren’t aggressive and confident enough to take our shot at the end.”

Asked about what he did when the Gophers were being dominated in the first half, Pitino said, “I yelled at them.”

Howard, when told by a reporter that Minnesota had a good run at the end of the first half, was even more succinct: “No shit.”

Back to Main Page