Gophers Lose 76-72 in Triple OT

Coach Dan Monson said it all week ““ college basketball is a bottom line business. It is almost as if he was forecasting Wednesday night’s game at Iowa as the Gophers lost a heartbreaking triple overtime thriller to the Hawkeyes 76-72. The Gophers’ gutsy performance is extra tough to take as the team was in such need of a win, and could not convert on last second attempts at the end of regulation and the end of the first overtime.

The opportunities were there for the Gophers. Despite getting down early in the game and trailing at halftime, Minnesota came out strong in the second half, grabbed the lead and had chances to win on last second shots twice and had a four point lead in the second overtime. But with all of that, the Gophers still come up four points short.

The first chance to win the game came at the end of regulation. After a Jeff Horner missed three-pointer, the Gophers ran the clock down to the final seconds and Vincent Grier missed a long jump shot, sending the game into a first overtime at 58-58.

Grier and the Gophers found themselves with a chance to win again in the final seconds of the first overtime. With the teams tied 61-61, Jonathan Williams rebounded a Greg Brunner missed free throw and after a timeout, Grier missed another jump shot to send the game into a second overtime.

In the second overtime Minnesota opened up a four point lead 67-63 with under two minutes remaining. Iowa’s Mike Henderson cut the Gopher lead in half seconds before Maurice Hargrow missed two crucial free throws keeping Iowa within two points. Erek Hansen hit two free throws to tie the game, and again Minnesota missed two free throws as Williams was hacked on a shot, but couldn’t convert on either attempt. The two teams traded steals in the final seconds of the second overtime as the game went into a third overtime tied at 67-67.

The third overtime signified the first time in Carver Hawkeye Arena history that Iowa played a three overtime game, and they were not interested in making it a four overtime game as they really took it to the Gophers in the third OT. Jumping out to a quick 71-67 lead, the Hawkeyes held on for the four point 76-72 win.

Despite shooting a lousy 5% from three-point land, Iowa was led by a monster game by Brunner as he finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Hargrow led the way for the Gophers with 16 points, and Grier added 15 (but only seven in the games final 35 minutes). He also had 10 rebounds, and Adam Boone chipped in with 14 points including four three-pointers. The highlight of the night for Minnesota was Williams who had the best game of his collegiate career as he finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks and played a career high 33 minutes.

But despite the gutsy performance on the road versus a ranked rival, the Gophers came up short. With that, Minnesota remains the only winless team in Big Ten play and faces continued pressure to turn the season around ““ immediately. But the road does not get any easier for the Gophers as they host Michigan on Saturday night and then travel Illinois and home against Indiana.

But as Monson said this week and the Gophers proved tonight ““ this is a bottom line business and at this level and at this point in the season, the only thing that matters is getting that “œW.” And the Gophers are still waiting for their first.