ORLANDO – Gophers coach Ben Johnson scheduled the Orlando trip over Thanksgiving to showcase his basketball team on a bigger stage at the ESPN Events Invitational, but they had to battle in crunch time with their best player on the bench.
Gophers lose overtime heartbreaker to Wichita State in Orlando tournament
Dawson Garcia fouled out with four points, and the Shockers hit a tying three pointer with one second remaining in regulation.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 28, 2024 at 8:46PM
Dawson Garcia, the fourth leading scorer in the Big Ten, fouled out in overtime with just four points.
Still, the Gophers saw a potential game-winning three-pointer from Brennan Rigsby just miss as time expired in a gut-wrenching 68-66 loss against Wichita State on Thursday afternoon at the Wide World of Sports complex.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win it,” Johnson said. “We got a relatively decent look. Obviously, it’s a game of inches a little bit and didn’t quite get the bounce. I thought for the most part our guys battled.”
Wichita State’s Justin Hill’s free throws with four seconds left were the deciding points in a back-and-forth affair. The Shockers (6-0) escaped a loss in regulation with Harlond Beverly’s three with 1.2 seconds left that tied the game 57-57.
Isaac Asuma, a freshman from Cherry, Minn., sank clutch free throws with 10 seconds to play. But the Gophers (5-2) failed to get the stop to seal what would’ve been their best win this season.
Johnson said he decided not to foul up three points with seconds winding down in regulation because he didn’t have faith his team could come back and seal it at the line.
“We’re not shooting free throws great,” Johnson said. “So, then you’re worried about it becomes a free throw game and you foul too early. Well, now you’re putting more pressure on the team.”
With just under four minutes left in the extra period, Garcia appeared to tie the ball up, but he was whistled for his fifth foul. The Gophers gave up six straight points in overtime. But Rigsby’s layup and dunk after a critical steal tied the game 66-66 with 15 seconds left.
Then, when the Gophers didn’t want to foul, Frank Mitchell was caught reaching after switching to defend Hill on a pick-and-roll. Even after Wichita State went ahead at the foul line, Minnesota’s players leaped off the bench when Rigsby’s corner three attempt bounced four times around the rim before it missed.
“I felt like Brennan was going to make that shot,” senior guard Femi Odukale said. “I’ve seen him take tough shots like that, but we can’t hold our heads low for that.”
Lu’Cye Patterson finished with a team-high 14 points and six assists. Odukale had 13 points and eight assists. Parker Fox also added 12 points and six rebounds for the Gophers, who finish out Thanksgiving week Friday afternoon against the loser of Wake Forest vs. Florida.
“We outrebounded them (38-34) and got into transition (16-2 in fastbreak points), which is what we wanted to do,” Johnson said. “Now we’ve got to go back and look how do we better close the deal.”
The next game could be even tougher to win if Garcia can’t get going after shooting 1-for-7 from the field in 38 minutes. He also had six rebounds and two blocks.
But the 6-11 senior was averaging 22.8 points through five games, which included five games with 20-plus points.
“Teams are really going to load up against him,” Johnson said. “Credit them they did a good job of making all of his catches tough. Double teaming. He’s a big focal point of what they were trying to do defensively, but I thought our guys battled.”
Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko said, “We’re very fortunate there’s no ligament damage,” for Brody Lamb, who collided with Notre Dame’s Justin Janicke last Friday.
