University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Basketball Pulls Out 81-78 Win Over Michigan
2/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
- Click Here For Box Score
Minnesota snapped its eight-game losing streak and earned its first Big Ten victory of the season this evening with an 81-78 victory over Michigan at Williams Arena. The Golden Gophers erased an 11-point halftime deficit and held off a late Wolverine run to improve to 9- 13, 1-9 Big Ten. Minnesota was led by a career night from Jeff Hagen who had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
With the score tied at 63-63 with 7:30 left in the game, Minnesota scored eight straight points to take a 73-65 edge with 4:26 remaining. A Ben Johnson three extended the lead to a game-high 10 points with four minutes left. The Wolverines rallied down the stretch with two straight baskets by Daniel Horton to pull within 78- 75 with 1:29 to go.
A Courtney Sims free throw got the Wolverines within two but Aaron Robinson made two clutch free throws on the other end to put the Gophers back up three. After Michigan missed a field goal on the other end, Sims fouled Kris Humphries, who made one of two at the line to put Minnesota up 81-76 with 24 seconds left. Sims got an uncontested dunk with 12 seconds left to pull Michigan within three and Daniel Horton fouled Adam Boone with 7.6 seconds left. Boone missed both free throws and Dion Harris' fall away three at the buzzer hit the front end of the rim and bounced off.
Trailing by 11 at the half, the Gophers got back into the game with a 14-6 run to close within three. Michigan built its lead back to seven at 57-50 but the Gophers connected on four straight threes, including two by Boone to take a 62-61 lead with 8:02 remaining. Minnesota started the game strong, taking an 18-13 lead on a fast break layup by Ben Johnson with 10:46 left. Michigan took a 24-21 edge on a Daniel Horton trey at the 7:30 mark but Boone countered with a three on the ensuing possession to tie the game again. After two Michael Bauer free throws,the Wolverines took control, going on a 14-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 38-26. Michigan increased its lead to 13 on twice but the Gophers trimmed the deficit to 45-34 at the break. The Gophers were hampered by poor free throw shooting in the half, going 9-17. The half was also marred by turnovers. Michigan coughed the ball up 13 times and Minnesota 12.
Humphries also had a double-double for Minnesota with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Johnson scored 20 points and Boone added 11. The Gophers shot 49 percent from the field and 45 percent from three- point range.
Michigan was led by Lester Abram and Horton with 15 points apiece. Bernard Robinson Jr. scored 14 points before fouling out with five minutes left in the game.
Minnesota heads to East Lansing, Mich. for a rematch with Michigan State on Saturday. The Spartans defeated Minnesota 79-78 in overtime on January 28.
Post-Game Notes
Michigan leads the all-time series 69-53. Minnesota is 37-23 at home in the series.
Minnesota is 5-2 against Michigan under Dan Monson. Tommy Amaker is 3-4 in his career against Minnesota.
Kris Humphries has scored in double figures in all 22 games this season.
Humphries posted his 13th double-double and 10th 20-10 game of the season. His 13 double-doubles rank seventh all-time at Minnesota.
Jeff Hagen set new career-highs with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He recorded his first career double-double.
Hagen scored in double figures for the fourth time in his career. Hagen has averaged 14 points and seven boards in the last two games against Michigan. His previous scoring high of 12 was set against Michigan on 1/22/03.
Ben Johnson scored his 1,100th career point in the second half. Johnson scored in double figures for the 12th time this season and the 55th time in his career.
Johnson reached the 20-point mark for the third time this season and the seventh time in his career. It marked his first 20-point game in Big Ten play as a Golden Gopher.
Michael Bauer scored his 1,100th career point in the second half.
Bauer moved into a tie with Bob Martin (1989-92) for fifth all-time in career blocks with 146.
Adam Boone scored in double figures for the eighth time this season and 16th time in his career.
Minnesota snapped an eight-game losing streak overall and a five- game homecourt losing streak.
Post-Game Quotes
Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson
"This has been a tough 40 days for a lot of people who love Gopher basketball. We all feel what they feel. I am happy for our players. That is who this stretch has been the toughest for. No one struggled as much as t hey did. This game was a gut check. This was a character game and win. I hope they enjoy it. Tomorrow we're back at practice, preparing for Michigan State."
"For the first 10 minutes we were fine. Then they started playing zone and were not getting scoring chances and started breaking down. We hit a wall. During halftime I said this was a time to grow up. We need to quit worrying about our record. Use the next 20 minutes to get rid of our frustration."
"We played very aggressive in the second half. We were in man and were a focused unit. We did a great job on both ends. During the first half, we were too loose."
On Jeff Hagen's play.
"He was excellent tonight. He really gave us another presence besides Kris. He was another person in there to score, rebound and as a defensive presence. All eight guys did a good job finding a role to try and help. I'm proud they were able to put the first half behind them and play well during the second half."
Michigan Head Coach Tommy Amaker
"We knew that turnovers would be the key to victory. In my opinion it was the difference in the ball game. Our perimeter players have turned the ball over too much this season."
"We knew they are a team which is very tough at home, they've lost a few close ball games."
"When people put pressure on the ball, they speed you up a bit. We seem to be uncomfortable with that away from home."
"We haven't been a good ball-handling team. You can't win on the road if you turn the ball over like we did."
"The start of the second half was the difference for their team. They went right after us, tried to get Humphries back in the game and they did."
Minnesota guard Ben Johnson
"It feels good that we were finally able to come through and make the big plays down the stretch to come up with the win. We executed well and came up with the key shots and stops to win the game."
"We made Michigan play the way we wanted to tonight. We came out and played strong in the second half and scrapped it out tonight."
"The whole Big Ten season this team has worked hard. We have a lot of character and we put in too much effort to roll over. Now that we've got a win under our belt, we have some confidence and we feel like we could go out there and let the chips fall where the may."
Minnesota guard Adam Boone
"I was in a good rhythm tonight and the guys found me in good situations. We started playing with more confidence as the game went on and it was contagious. The results showed in the fact that several players were knocking down shots when they needed to."
"It's easy to mail it in when you start out like we did. We feel like we have had a lot of chances to win in Big Ten play and this was just another one. We knew if we kept plugging away, we could pull out this game. Getting a win tonight puts a little pep in our step heading in preparation for our next game."
Minnesota center Jeff Hagen
We don't have a great record but we have fought as hard as we can throughout the Big Ten season. There is not one quitter on this team. The ball has not fallen the right way for us this season but we came out and worked hard tonight and came out with the victory."
"You can't be scared to give everything you have. This team is a group of players that has continually give everything they have this season. We have never given up and our work finally paid off tonight in a victory."
