University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Lose Double Overtime Thriller At UAB, 88-81
12/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
In a game full of lengthy runs and late game heroics by both teams, Minnesota fell to UAB 88-81 in double overtime. Minnesota rallied from a 14-point second half deficit and Jamal Abu-Shamala made a deep jumper to push the game into double overtime but the Gophers lost to the Blazers (5-3) this evening at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala. The Gophers (3-6) were led by Lawrence McKenzie with 25 points while Dan Coleman scored 18 and Spencer Tollackson added 17.
Minnesota played its second game under interim head coach Jim Molinari, who took over when Dan Monson resigned after over seven seasons on the Gopher bench on Nov. 30.
Trailing 77-75 with just 0.6 seconds left in the first overtime, Limar Wilson inbounded to Jamal Abu-Shamala who released a shot from the right corner that appeared to be a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. The shot swished, setting off a celebration on the Minnesota bench. The officials checked a courtside video monitor and ruled the shot was a two-pointer that barely beat the buzzer. That sent the game to a second overtime tied 77-77. The Gophers had taken a four-point lead in the first overtime session after Coleman hammered a dunk and was fouled with 2:55 left. A quick 5-0 run by the Blazers capped by a Paul Delaney III driving dunk gave UAB a 77-75 lead with 27 seconds left. The Gophers had three shots at the basket in the late moments including three-pointers by Coleman and Wilson. After Tollackson missed a deep jumper, the ball was deflected out of bounds with 0.6 seconds left, setting up Abu-Shamala's heroic game-tying basket. It was Abu-Shamala's first field goal attempt of the game.
UAB took a three-point lead in the second overtime after a Frank Holmes basket but Wilson answered with a layup to bring the Gophers back within one. Delaney answered for the Blazers with another basket but Coleman scored again to keep Minnesota within one at 82-81 with 2:40 left. However, that was the last time the Gophers would score as they missed their final six shots and the Blazers sank their free throws down the stretch to ice the game and preserve an 88-81 win.
McKenzie made 9-of-20 field goals and drained five threes to lead Minnesota with a career-high 25 points. Coleman made 7-of-17 from the floor for 18 points and grabbed nine boards while Tollackson scored 17 and nabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. The difference in the game came at the foul line where the Blazers were rewarded for aggressive play and made 25-of-36 from the charity stripe. Minnesota visited the line just 11 times, making nine. The Gophers were whistled for 28 fouls and lost McKenzie and Wilson to fouls early in the second overtime. UAB had just 15 fouls in the lengthy game with only one player reaching four fouls. Minnesota battled on the boards all game after being dominated on the glass for the last several games. Each team grabbed 15 offensive boards with UAB holding an overall 46-43 edge. The Gophers played a pretty tidy game, turning the ball over just 13 times in 50 minutes of action. The Blazers coughed the ball up just 15 times.
Minnesota surrendered a 7-0 run early in the second half to fall behind by 14 at 54-40 with 13:43 left in regulation.Trailing 56-42, Minnesota went on a 9-0 run that included four points by Kevin Payton and a trey by Wilson to pull within 56-51 with 9:19 to play. The Blazers were able to push their edge back to seven on three occasions before Minnesota reeled off six straight points on a Coleman layup and thunderous dunk and a trey by McKenzie to trail by one at 62-61 with 4:09 to go. A Delaney jumper and a Maurice Gibbs free throw gave the Blazers a three-point edge but Wilson gave Minnesota its first lead since midway through the first half with a driving layup with 1:05 left at 65-64. The Gophers held on the defensive end but after a Wilson missed three-pointer, Coleman was called for a loose ball foul attempting to grab the rebound and Wen Mukubu made 1-of-2 from the line to knot the game at 65-65. Wilson drove to the basket with 10 seconds left on Minnesota's final possession but missed and UAB gained the final possession of regulation where Lawrence Kinnard missed a three-pointer to leave the game a 65-65 tie at the end of regulation.
A see-saw first half saw the Blazers jump out to a 15-3 lead with six minutes gone in the game before the Gophers came to life. Coleman started a 14-2 run with two free throws. Two McKenzie threes and a Jon Williams follow dunk highlighted the Gopher run as they tied the game at 17-17 with 11:12 on the clock. After a Holmes free throw for UAB, McKenzie made another trey to give Minnesota its first lead at 20-18. The lead would change hands two more times before Gibbs made a trey for UAB to take a 28-25 lead. Delaney capped a 13-2 Blazer run with another three to make the UAB lead 33-25 with 5:29 left. A Tollackson layup with 3:18 on the clock pulled the Gophers within 33-30 but UAB scored seven of the last nine points of the half to take a 40-32 haltime lead.
Delaney, who played all 50 minutes, led UAB with 25 points while Holmes added 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Minnesota returns to action on Thursday, December 7 when it hosts South Dakota State at 7 p.m.
