Minnesota rallies to beat Michigan 73-71
Mike Mitchell Jr. scored 18 points, Dawson Garcia had a double-double, and Minnesota rallied late and then held off Michigan for a 73-71 victory on Thursday night for its sixth straight win.
Pharrel Payne scored four points, and Mitchell and Elijah Hawkins each hit a 3-pointer during a 10-3 surge to give Minnesota a 69-62 advantage with 3:58 remaining. It was the Golden Gophers' largest lead of the game. About two minutes later, Payne's alley-oop dunk made it 71-66 before Terrance Williams II made a 3 to pull Michigan to 71-69 with 1:03 to play.
Joshua Ola-Joseph answered with the Golden Gophers' fourth dunk of the game before a pair of Olivier Nkamhoua free throws for Michigan capped the scoring with 26 seconds left. The Wolverines had the final possession, but Hawkins missed a free throw, Nkamhoua missed a 3 and Dug McDaniel missed a layup to end it.
Mitchell was 6 of 12 from the floor. Hawkins finished with 14 points, and the pair combined for eight of the Golden Gophers' 10 from long range. Garcia scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Minnesota (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten). Payne and Ola-Joseph chipped in 12 points apiece.
Nimari Burnett scored 17 points to lead Michigan (6-8, 1-2). Nkamhoua added 16 points, and Tarris Reed Jr. had 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
Reed had 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the first half to help Michigan take a 37-33 advantage into the break. The Wolverines had their largest lead, 47-40, with 15:25 remaining. Mitchell hit a 3-pointer, Payne scored with a dunk, and Garcia tied it 47-all with a layup at the 13:22 mark. The Wolverines stretched the lead back to four points before Minnesota took the lead for good with 5:35 to play.
Minnesota hosts Maryland on Sunday. Michigan plays Penn State in Philadelphia on Sunday.
