MINNESOTA GOPHERS LOOSE A CLOSE ONE

The Minnesota men's basketball team couldn't hold on to a 12-point second-half lead, eventually falling to Michigan 67-64 Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena. The Gophers were up by a dozen with 14 minutes left in regulation and 10 with fewer than 10 minutes to go, but the Wolverines closed the game on a 21-8 run to prevail at The Barn.

Lawrence Westbrook went 9-for-9 at the free throw line and finished with a team-high 16 points for Minnesota. Ralph Sampson III and Damian Johnson added 13 and 12 points, respectively. On Senior Day, forward Jamal Abu-Shamala went 4-of-6 from the field and finished with 10 points and five rebounds. The Gophers – hopeful for an NCAA Tournament invitation - finish the regular season 21-9 overall and 9-9 in Big Ten play. Minnesota posted 21 regular season wins for the first time since 1976-77.

DeShawn Sims scored a game-high 24 points to lead Michigan to victory. Laval Lucas-Perry went 3-of-4 from three-point range and finished with 19 points and Manny Harris added 14. With the win, the Wolverines finish the regular season 19-12 overall and 9-9 in conference play.

Ahead by three entering the second half, Minnesota went on a 14-5 run to begin the second stanza and led 49-37 following a layup by Johnson six minutes into the half. With 10 minutes left to go, Minnesota still led by double-digits, 56-46, following a free throw by Sampson III.

But the pesky Wolverines desperate to finish the season .500 in conference play to make themselves a more appealing team to the NCAA selection committee wouldn’t go away.

Down 10, Lucas-Perry proceeded to score 10-straight points for the Wolverines – including back-to-back three’s – to cut Minnesota’s lead to two, 56-54, with 8:14 left in regulation. A layup by Sims tied the game at 58-58 with 6:30 to play and two free throws by the junior forward gave the Wolverines the lead outright, 60-58, with five minutes to play.

A jumper by freshman guard Devoe Joseph tied the game with 4:51 to play, but that would be as close as the Gophers would come. Moments later, Sims hit a baseline jumper to put the Wolverines ahead again and Harris hit a corner three with 2:06 to play to put Michigan up 65-60.

Westbrook tried to get Minnesota back into the game – hitting four free throws to pull Minnesota to within three, 67-64, with 44 seconds to go. Minnesota held Michigan on its final offensive possession of the game and Tubby Smith called a timeout with four seconds left to diagram a game-tying shot.

But Westbrook hounded by Michigan defenders misfired, and Michigan left Minneapolis with a pivotal win.

Early, it looked as if the Maroon and Gold were poised to win their home finale.

Minnesota – which held Michigan to four points over the first seven minutes of the contest - jumped out to a nine-point lead, 21-12, following a layup by Blake Hoffarber with 6:20 left in the first half.

But Michigan – resilient all afternoon – came storming back.

The Wolverines started the contest 0-of-6 from three-point range, but once John Beilein’s squad heated up from downtown, they were back in the game. In the final six minutes of the first half, Michigan connected on 4-of-5 from behind the arc and, following a steal and layup by C.J. Lee, was down just one, 33-32, with under a minute left in the half.

Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and converted on his put-back attempt with 29 seconds left in the half, giving Minnesota a 35-32 lead heading into the locker room.

But Michigan – despite being out rebounded 30-13 and allowing the Gophers to shoot 55 percent (22-of-40) – overcame a double-digit second-half deficit and left Minneapolis with an important victory.

Minnesota returns to action on Thursday when the Gophers travel to Indianapolis to partake in the Big Ten Tournament.