The Gophers men’s basketball overcame a seven-point deficit in the final five minutes to rally for an 84-78 victory over Northwestern on Jan. 3 in Evanston, Ill.
The Gophers trailed 67-60 with 4 minutes, 39 seconds remaining before outscoring the Wildcats 24-11 down the stretch to earn their first victory away from Williams Arena this season and their first at Northwestern since February 2020.
“We hung in there, and you have to do that,” Gophers coach Niko Medved told KFAN radio after the game. “We found a way to get a couple of stops at the end.”
The Gophers (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten), who went into the game shooting 68% from the free-throw line, made 17 of 20 free throws in the second half to overcome 26 points from Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 22.8 points per game coming in. Martinelli scored 19 points in the second half.
“Martinelli is such a load,” Medved said. “But we made some big shots and our free throws down the stretch.”
Cade Tyson, second in the Big Ten scoring (21.9 points per game), scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half to lead the Gophers to their fourth consecutive victory. Tyson shot 11-for-12 from the free-throw line.
“What impressed me was the balance on our team today,” Medved said. “Everyone contributed.”
That included Grayson Grove, who scored a season-high 12 points off the bench after coming in with 28 points all season. Grove shot 6-for-6 from the floor, with four dunks in the second half, in 21 minutes.
