University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall to Xavier in NCAA Opener, 65-54
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Milwaukee -- Minnesota saw its season come to an end Friday afternoon, as it dropped a 65-54 decision to 25th-ranked Xavier in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament before a crowd of 17,875 at the Bradley Center.
The #11 seed Gophers (21-14) played to a 26-26 tie at the half, but sixth-seeded Xavier used an 18-9 run early in the second half to turn a 30-29 deficit into a 47-39 lead, which the Musketeers (25-8) increased to as many as 11 points down the stretch.
Minnesota, which was making its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under third-year head coach Tubby Smith, lost in the opening round for the fourth consecutive time since winning its tourney opener in 1990. The Gophers lost to Texas, 76-62, at the 2009 NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
The Gophers started quickly, getting a bank-in three-pointer by senior guard Lawrence Westbrook to take a 3-2 lead, and then junior guard Blake Hoffarber hit his first attempt from long-range to put Minnesota up, 6-4. Sophomore forward Ralph Sampson III got a layup to roll in from right under the basket, and Minnesota was up, 8-6, at the first media timeout.
Xavier went on a 9-0 run to take a 15-8 lead, but the Gophers answered with a 9-0 run of their own to pull in front 17-15 with 7:48 left in the half. Westbrook scored seven during the streak, including a wide-open three from the right side to give him 10 of Minnesota's first 17 points.
A running floater in the lane by Westbrook gave the Gophers a 19-17 lead, but Minnesota then ran into a cold stretch from the field, allowing the Musketeers to go on a 5-0 run for a 22-19 advantage following the final media timeout of the half.
The Golden Gophers closed the back-and-forth first half with a 7-4 spurt, getting a trey by Hoffarber to tie it at 22-22, a free throw by junior forward Paul Carter cut Xavier's lead to 24-23, and a three by Westbrook to send the game to the lockerroom tied at 26-26. Westbrook led all scorers with 15 first-half points, while Hoffarber had six at the break.
The second half began at a frantic pace, as the Musketeers raced to a 40-36 lead with 15:20 remaining. After Xavier's Jason Love opened the scoring with a three-point play, Minnesota senior forward Damian Johnson scored on back-to-back possessions to put the Gophers up, 30-29.
But the brief lead was the Gophers' final advantage, as XU responded with an 11-4 run to pull ahead by six and remained in front for the rest of the game. The Gophers got a field goal from sophomore point guard Devoe Joseph, followed by a three-point play from sophomore center Colton Iverson to cut it to 40-39.
Xavier's standout guard, Jordan Crawford, then keyed a 7-0 spurt to go up, 47-39. Senior guard Devron Bostick, who played high school basketball about 30 minutes from Milwaukee, momentarily stopped the Muskies' run by making a three from the left side to cut it to 47-42, but Xavier kept the run going by scoring eight of the next 10 points to gain a double-digit lead at 55-44.
Trailing 57-47, the Gophers got a three-pointer from Carter to cut it to 57-50, and then pulled to within six points with just over one minute remaining. But Crawford knocked down a clutch three, and Xavier's players were able to make enough free throws in the waning moments to maintain the lead and help the Musketeers advance past the first round for the fourth-straight year to face #3 seed Pittsburgh (25-8), which defeated #14 Oakland, 89-66.
In the first half, the Musketeers were limited to just 9-of-42 (.214) field goals, including only two treys in 10 tries. But Xavier heated up after the break to make 14-of-25 (.560) attempts, and 5-of-10 from three-point range. Meanwhile, Minnesota's proficiency deteriorated from 35.7 percent (10-of-28) in the opening half, to just 9-of-34 (.265) after the break. The Gophers kept the game close by making 5-of-11 (.455) three-pointers before halftime, but were only 2-of-15 (.133) when the game was decided in the final 20 minutes.
Westbrook led the Gophers with 19 points in his final game wearing Maroon and Gold, but he was the lone Minnesota player to reach double figures. Johnson wrapped up his Minnesota career with seven points, five rebounds, four assists, and a pair of blocks, while Hoffarber added six points and seven rebounds in the loss. Carter led the Gophers with nine rebounds, and Iverson came off the bench for five points, six boards, and five blocked shots, as the Gophers finished with 11 rejections in the game.
Other than Westbrook, though, Minnesota had a hard time finding a scoring option, and the Gophers' struggles from the field resulted in them making 19-of-62 (.306) field goal attempts, including just seven three-pointers in 26 attempts for 26.9 percent. The Gophers' bench, which had averaged 24 points per game this season, combined to score just 14 points against the Musketeers.
Xavier didn't fare much better offensively by making just 23-of-67 (.343) field goals, including 7-of-20 (.350) from outside the arc. But the Muskies benfitted from 30 points in the paint, including a 20-to-8 advantage in second-chance points, while holding a 50-41 edge in rebounding.
The Musketeers also only had one player reach double figures, but it was Crawford's game-high total of 28 that paced XU. A transfer from Indiana, Crawford made 11-of-21 field goals, while adding six rebounds and five assists. Dante Jackson pitched in with nine points, while Jamel McLean finished with seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds, and Love had seven points and eight boards.
With his 19 points in the game, Westbrook ends his career with 1,199 career points to tie former Gopher Archie Clark (1963-66) for 20th on Minnesota's all-time scoring list. Johnson's two blocks give him a career total of 191 to rank third all-time.
