INDIANAPOLIS - In a way, it almost seemed fitting that the Gophers would lose this way: in a close game, in overtime, and by missing just enough opportunities to fall short.
It's been the Gophers' greatest curse all season. They compete in almost every game, but they don't win enough.
This final shot at redemption likely ended it, with the only postseason shot now a potential NIT berth, which will be determined on Sunday.
Minutes after falling in a heartbreaking overtime defeat, 73-69 to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals, Andre Hollins and Rodney Williams -- the pair that likely will play the role of leaders when the Gophers try to improve next season -- walked silently down an empty hallway, a long, quiet road to face the questions they've faced so many times this year.
When it mattered, at the end, why couldn't they get it done?
"We seriously had them beat -- and we just let up," said a pink-faced, eerily smile-less Hollins, who finished with 21 points, four rebounds and six assists. "This is going to be a tough one to swallow. We've had a lot of these this year. It's just a hard one."
Mostly because it's the last one, but also because the Gophers felt truly on the verge of finally becoming the team they've tried to be all season.
"It reminds me of a lot of all the other games," Elliott Eliason said. "But just being on the stage and what it meant, at this stage of the season, it really resonates. It hurts really, a lot more than the other ones, because of that."