Northwestern falls to Minnesota for second straight overtime loss

MINNEAPOLIS — Dawson Garcia hit his first 3-pointer of the game with 2:31 left in overtime, followed by five free throws, as Minnesota rallied from nine points down with less than six minutes remaining in regulation to defeat Northwestern 75-66 on Saturday.

The win marked the Golden Gophers’ second straight comeback victory, as they used a second-half surge to record their first win at Penn State since 2018.

Ryan Langborg hit back-to-back three-pointers, the second with 5:55 remaining in regulation, to put Northwestern up by nine, 54-46. The Wildcats did not make another basket until Langborg’s layup with 2:55 remaining in overtime.

Minnesota (14-7, 5-5 Big Ten) surged on an 8-1 run to pull within one, 55-54, with 1:40 left, and freshman Cam Christie drilled a wide-open 3-pointer off a kick-out pass from Elijah Hawkins with 41 seconds left to make it 59-58. Hawkins added two free throws with:20 left in regulation to give the team a three-point lead, but Boo Buie sank three of four from the line to tie the game.

With the game deadlocked at 63 in overtime, Garcia nailed a three-pointer to put the Gophers up for good, and he added to that by going 5 of 6 from the line. Pharrel Payne added an impressive dunk with 0:38 remaining to put the game out of reach.

Minnesota missed its first 11 3-pointers of the game, but then made 7 of 12 to drive its comeback. Garcia finished with 20 points, going 9 for 11 from the line. Christie finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Payne contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. Hawkins had 13 points and 10 assists, while Mike Mitchell Jr. scored 10.