Gophers Rally, Badgers Fall
February 14, 2013

Pushed to the brink of irrelevance by Illinois on Sunday, the University of Minnesota basketball team rallied from behind to defeat Wisconsin in overtime, 58-53, at Williams Arena Thursday night.

Faced with the possibility of sinking to 5-7 in the Big 10 race, the Gophers relied on stellar guard play from Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins to overcome a 49-43 deficit and tie the game at the end of regulation play.

Against Illinois, Minnesota frequently lapsed into periods of listless play, lacking confidence in shot selection and committing costly turnovers. The result was a 57-53 loss in a game that saw starting forward Rodney Williams sitting out with a shoulder injury.

Williams returned against Wisconsin but clearly was not up to100 percent efficiency on the floor. The Badgers, meanwhile were ore than up to executing coach Bo Ryan’s deliberate offense and built leads of 10-4, 18-9, and 24-14 despite shooting only 36 percent from the floor. In the first half, Minnesota rooters sat in silence as the Badgers bled every shot clock on offense and defensively held the Gophers to only eight out of 25 shooting, including three of 10 from three-point land.

More of the same marked the second half as Minnesota players became reluctant to shoot for fear of a negative result. The bench was of no help, recording zero field goals.

Going into the game, coach Ryan owned a 16-4 record against Minnesota with a 6-3 mark at Williams Arena. Since 2006, the Gophers have won only three times while losing 10 times to their eastern border rivals.

And so it came down to Wisconsin leading 49-43 after a Ryan Evans free throw. An Andre Hollins layup at 4:59 made it 49-45. At 1:53, Williams slammed home a dunk shot, and it was 49-47.

It stayed that way until one of those inexplicable moments that sometime happen in the course of a close basketball game and cause a reversal of fortunes. Austin Hollins was called for charging with 22.6 seconds left. Minnesota native Mike Bruesewitz was to have inbounded the ball under the Gopher basket. Ball in hand, Bruesewitz shuffled his feet, a clear violation. Wisconsin subsequently fouled Minnesota’s Joe Coleman, who sank a pair of free throws for the tie and overtime.

In the extra period, Andre Hollins scored on a three-pointer for a 52-49 lead, and Trevor Mbakwe hit a pair of free throws to increase the Minnesota lead to five. Four Andre Hollins free throws finished off the Gopher scoring. In all, he scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Austin Hollins finished with 11 points.

Reserve Sam Dekker led the Badgers with 14 points, and starter Ben Brust had 11.

“Our ball pressure tonight was better than it has been,” observed Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. “We had went away from playing good defense, but we got it back. We have to over-achieve every night.” He pointed out that in the Big 10, starters Mbakwe, Williams, and Coleman face a height disadvantage. “Our opponents are taller. We have to execute to perfection.”

Ryan pointed to the fact that his team missed key free throw attempts down the stretch in regulation. (Wisconsin was 10 of 17 from the line.) “We make our free throws and we’re on the plane now heading for Madison.”

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