The No. 6 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers upset the No. 1 Washington Huskies on Tuesday night for the right to advance to the National Invitational Tournament championship game to be played against Stanford, who defeated UMass. The Golden Gophers needed overtime to advance, but ultimately knocked off the Huskies, 68-67.
The Golden Gophers dominated in the first half, but it was a different story in the second wherein the Huskies appeared to be the much better team. However, despite the discrepancy, Washington couldn't really cut into the lead until it was almost too late.
Down a bucket with about 20 seconds remaining, though, Minnesota turned it over, thanks in large part to a missed call (a Huskies player intentionally grabbed a Golden Gopher's jersey, hoping to foul, but instead there was no call and the player fell and lost the ball). C.J. Wilcox picked up the loose ball and hit a runner for the tie.
Minnesota thought they were fouled on the other end, but the whistles were once again swallowed. Washington had a chance to take their first lead of the game and win it at the buzzer after the Golden Gophers' miss, but the open look went off the backboard, around the rim and off, forcing overtime.
In the overtime period, Andre Hollins scored all seven of the Golden Gophers' points (he actually scored their final 13 points of the game) and Minnesota held on despite the Huskies having a last-second desperation try to win it.
Hollins led the Golden Gophers with 20 points and five assists. Rodney Williams finished with a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Terrance Ross scored 21 points for the Huskies in the loss.
The Minnesota-Stanford final will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 29 and will be aired on ESPN.
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