Indiana’s Assembly Hall has been a house of horrors for visiting teams this season, as the Hoosiers entered Thursday’s game there against Minnesota with three wins against nationally-ranked teams, including then-No. 1 Kentucky.
But tonight it was the visiting Golden Gophers who pulled off a shocker, as they played a solid game from start to finish to escape Bloomington with a 77-74 victory over the eighth-ranked Hoosiers.
It was the first Big Ten win in five outings for Minnesota (13-5, 1-4), which knocked off a Top 10 team for the first time since defeating No. 8 Purdue 70-67 at Williams Arena almost one year ago – Jan. 13, 2011. Indiana fell to 15-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
The Gophers were led by 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting by sophomore guard Austin Hollins, while junior forward Rodney Williams had 14 points and six rebound before fouling out with 3:11 remaining in the game. Junior guard Julian Welch added 10 points for the Gophers, who made 29-of-62 (.468) field goals.
The key to turning the game in Minnesota’s favor was three-point shooting in the first half, as the Gophers combined to make 6-of-13 attempts from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. The Gophers also received a spark off the bench from sophomore guard Maverick Ahanmisi, who scored seven of his eight points during a momentum-changing run that took the Gophers from down by three to up by nine.
Meanwhile, Indiana made just 4-of-18 (.222) treys in the contest after entering the game as one of the nation’s top teams from three-point range, and the Hoosiers struggled with the Gophers’ defense by turning the ball over 16 times in the loss.
Williams got the Gophers off on the right foot, getting his own rebound on the opening possession and putting it back while being fouled. He then added the free throw for a quick 3-0 lead.
Minnesota scored on its first four possessions, getting layups from Austin Hollins and freshman guard Joe Coleman and a 16-foot jumper by Welch to grab a 9-6 lead.
Senior forward Ralph Sampson III gave Minnesota an 11-8 lead by getting a short bank shot to roll in, but Cody Zeller kicked off a 6-0 run to give the Hoosiers their first lead by getting a dunk on the fast break and then immediately coming up with a steal that led to another basket.
Trailing 14-11, Minnesota received a spark from Ahanmisi, who came off the bench to score seven points during an 18-6 run that gave the Gophers a 29-20 lead. Minnesota made four three-pointers in that stretch — one each by Ahanmisi and Andre Hollins, and a pair by sophomore guard Chip Armelin.
Indiana went to a zone defense to attempt to slow down the Gophers’ perimeter shooting, and the Hoosiers responded with a 10-0 run to retake the lead at 30-29.
But Austin Hollins stopped the Hoosiers’ momentum by knocking down a three from the left wing, and Williams got open underneath for a two-handed dunk to keep Minnesota in front by two, 34-32.
After Minnesota held Indiana scoreless on back-to-back possessions, which included forcing a shot clock violation being whistled on the Hoosiers, Austin Hollins made Minnesota’s sixth three-pointer of the first half to stretch the lead to five points with 1:23 remaining and the Gophers took a 37-34 lead into the break.
The Gophers opened the second half by quickly equaling their largest first-half lead at nine points, 43-34. Welch and Austin Hollins each drove the lane for finger rolls to key the early 6-0 run.
Indiana cut Minnesota’s lead to five points at 45-40, but Austin Hollins finished a personal run of six-straight points to put the Gophers back in front by nine. Williams then scored on a layup to give Minnesota its largest lead of the night, 51-40, and force a timeout by Indiana head coach Tom Crean.
The Hoosiers cut the Gophers’ lead to six points, 53-47, and momentum seemed to start swinging the home team’s way. But Williams stretched the lead back to nine and reached double figures by getting a three-point play.
After Indiana stirred up the crowd at Assembly Hall by pulling to within 56-51, redshirt freshman center Elliott Eliason swished a 14-foot jumper just before the shot clock expired and Welch scored to give the Gophers a 60-51 lead.
The Hoosiers kept pressing, picking up the intensity, with Jordan Hulls scoring on a pair of jumpers to pull IU within five points, 64-59.
But the Gophers continued to get baskets at key times to stem the tide, this time on a put-back by Coleman to make it a seven-point edge at the final media timeout.
Williams fouled out with just more than three minutes remaining, and an Indiana free throw cut Minnesota’s lead to 66-60. But redshirt freshman forward Oto Osenieks tipped in a missed shot for an eight-point advantage, and Sampson scored on a baseline jumper after an Indiana field goal to put the Gophers up 70-62.
After Ahanmisi made one of two free throws with 1:11 left to put the Gophers up 71-62, the Hoosiers pulled to within three points on a three-pointer by Matt Roth and a three-point play by Victor Oladipo.
Coleman made a pair of free throws with 39 seconds remaining to put Minnesota back up by five points, 73-68. But Roth nailed another trifecta with 30 seconds left to cut Minnesota’s lead to just two points. Once again, Coleman stepped to the line and made two crucial free throws for a 75-71 edge with 0:28 left.
But Zeller, who led all players with 23 points, cut the deficit to a single point on a three-point play with 17 seconds remaining. Austin Hollins calmly sank a pair of free throws with 15 seconds on the clock, and the Gophers escaped with the huge road win.
The Gophers will hit the road again this weekend, traveling to Penn State for a 3:00 p.m. (CT) tipoff on Sunday afternoon. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
–By Michael Molde, GopherSports.com