Northwestern rallies past Minnesota 77-74 in OT
EVANSTON -- John Shurna scored 22 points, Drew Crawford added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Northwestern rallied from 13 down in the second half to beat struggling Minnesota 77-74 in overtime on Sunday.
Down three in overtime, the Wildcats (17-8, 6-7 Big Ten) scored nine straight points to make it 68-62. They also converted 9-of-10 free throws in the extra period and tied the program's regular season wins record after dropping three of their previous five.
Lawrence Westbrook led Minnesota (14-10, 5-7) with 22 points, but the Golden Gophers lost for the seventh time in 10 games and saw their postseason hopes take another blow.
Minnesota was leading 62-59 after a 3-pointer by Blake Hoffarber early in the extra period, but Michael Thompson answered with one of his own, sparking the 9-0 run. Jeremy Nash converted a layup following a steal by Crawford to put Northwestern back in the lead with 2:56 left. Crawford then added a layup, and Luka Mirkovic hit two free throws to make it 68-62 with 1:13 left.
A 3-pointer by Devoe Joseph pulled Minnesota to within 70-67 with 27 seconds left. Another by Hoffarber made it 72-70 with 14 seconds remaining, but the Wildcats hung on because they kept making their free throws.
Northwestern made its first eight in overtime before Crawford missed one at the end and was 16 of 19 in the game.
With a 48-35 lead midway through the second half after a 13-2 run, the Gophers looked like they might pull away, and they were still leading 52-45 before crumbling.
The Wildcats scored 10 straight to pull ahead, starting with Crawford's three-point play with 4:33 left in regulation. Mirkovic stole a pass and drove for a layup and then buried a 3-pointer to give Northwestern its first lead since the opening minute at 53-52. After Nash blocked a layup by Paul Carter, Crawford converted a layup to make it a three-point game with 2:46.
The Gophers' Westbrook stopped the run with a jumper with just over two minutes left in regulation, and Hoffarber answered two free throws by Thompson with a 3-pointer that tied it at 57 with 20 seconds remaining.
Thompson and Mirkovic each missed jumpers for Northwestern in the closing seconds, sending the game into overtime.