Steven Crowl #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers goes to the basket while Dawson Garcia #3 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers defends in the first half at Williams Arena on January 23, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by David Berding/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - It came down to the last shot as the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team hosted rival Wisconsin Tuesday night at Williams Arena.
The Gophers fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit and had a 58-57 lead with 34 seconds to play before trailing 61-58 on the final possession. Mike Mitchell Jr. was at the free-throw line and made the first. He intentionally missed the second and got the rebound, but his bank shot from the baseline to send it to overtime rimmed off as the Gophers lost to the Badgers 61-59 in the only meeting between the two rivals this season.
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Gophers lose heartbreaker to Wisconsin, 61-59
Gophers basketball coach Ben Johnson speaks with reporters after a 61-59 loss to Wisconsin Tuesday night at Williams Arena. Minnesota falls to 12-7, 3-5 in Big Ten play.
Minnesota falls to 12-7, 3-5 in the Big Ten and has lost four straight. The Badgers are 7-1 in the Big Ten, and now have five straight wins over Ben Johnson by a total of 16 points. Tuesday’s came in heartbreaking fashion against the No. 13-ranked team in the country.
"We have a set play and we’ve practiced that and worked on it. Couldn’t get a better miss by Mike. I think at some point here soon the basketball Gods are going to finally shine down on us because that did everything but go in," Johnson said after the loss. "These guys have done everything that we’ve asked, and you just think at some point, we’ve got to get a little bit of luck here."
Elijah Hawkins led the Gophers with 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Dawson Garcia added 10 points. The Gophers shot just 31 percent from the field in the first half, and 3-of-14 from the perimeter. They lost by two in a game where they shot just 5-of-13 at the free-throw line. Wisconsin was 8-of-10.
"We can’t beat ourselves up about it. We’ve just got to keep working. We shoot them every day so not seeing them fall definitely sucks, but we’ve got to be able to step up in those moments, especially me," said guard Braeden Carrington, who had three points and missed a free throw with 34 seconds to play.
Lakeville native Tyler Wahl led Wisconsin with 16 points, three rebounds and four assists. A.J. Storr added 15 points and 12 rebounds. In his first game with Wisconsin at Williams Arena, Lakeville native Nolan Winter had three points and two rebounds in 11 minutes.
After trailing 34-24 at the break, the Gophers got their first lead of the second half on a Cam Christie 3-pointer with 11:57 to play. Garcia scored to give Minnesota a 57-55 lead with 2:37 to play. Carrington made 1-of-2 at the free-throw line to give the Gophers a 58-57 lead with 34 seconds to play, but Storr and Wahl made four straight free throws to seal the win for the Badgers.
Minnesota won the second half 35-27, but couldn't pull off the win after having the lead three times.
"We can’t hang our head, just gotta move forward. Obviously it stings so it’s hard for me to process that right now. Just gotta move forward and finish the job," Garcia said.
The Gophers head to Penn State on Saturday.
"It’s like in life you’ve got two options when you get knocked down, you can stay down or you can get back up. This train is going to keep moving, we’ve got to find ways to get back up and I think we will because we have a resilient group," Johnson said. "As much as it hurts and as much as it stings, that’s life. You’ve got to be able to bounce back and take a punch, get back up and keep fighting."