The Minnesota Golden Gophers upset the Northwestern Wildcats, 75-68, in an overtime thriller in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. With a win, the Wildcats, the No. 7 seed, could have done a lot to shore up their first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament, but instead missed chance after chance down the stretch, letting the game slip through their fingers.
Andre Hollins was the story all game long for the Golden Gophers, the tournament's 10th seed, especially late. He led all scorers with 25 points, dominated the ball and carried the Gophers, both emotionally and with his play. The biggest play of the game, however, came with just less than 30 seconds left in overtime when Austin Hollins made a beautiful bounce pass to Rodney Williams while the Wildcats' zone snuck up, and Williams slammed it home for what turned out to be the game-clinching bucket.
Northwestern led 61-57 with just more than four minutes remaining in regulation, but didn't score another point until 46 seconds into overtime. JerShon Cobb, who missed a fair amount of games this year due to injury, led the Wildcats with 24 points, while John Shurna scored 21. The Wildcats had two inexcusable turnovers in the game's final minutes and couldn't hit jumpers, free throws or layups after Williams' dunk, leaving their fate very much in the air on Selection Sunday.
For more on these two teams, visit Northwestern blog Sippin' on Purple, MInnesota blog The Daily Gopher and Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.
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