Gophers, minus Cade Tyson, can’t hold off Badgers comeback in 67-63 loss

For the second time this month, John Blackwell helped Wisconsin outlast the Gophers men’s basketball team.

Blackwell scored 23 points as the Badgers rallied from a 20-point deficit in the first half to defeat the short-handed Gophers 67-63 on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

Blackwell, who made a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Gophers 78-75 on Jan. 13 at Williams Arena, scored seven points in the final minute as the Badgers (15-6, 7-3 Big Ten) handed the Gophers their sixth consecutive loss. Wisconsin also extended its winning streak in the rivalry series to 11 games.

The Gophers (10-11, 3-7) played without leading scorer Cade Tyson, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. That left them with seven scholarship players available and nine players available overall.

“Obviously, we’re really short-handed,” Gophers coach Niko Medved told KFAN radio after the game, “but the guys, like they’ve always done, came in tonight ready to fight. Played really good defense in the first half. We knew [the Badgers] would make a run in the second half, and we made some critical errors on defense in the second half. We’ve been in a lot of these, and at some point, we’ve got to find a way to focus and cut down on the mistakes. We’ve got to play through them and be better.”

Junior forward Bobby Durkin scored a season-high 20 points — with 17 coming in the first half — to lead the Gophers. Sophomore guard Isaac Asuma added 16 points.

“Bobby was awesome,” Medved said, “and I’m really proud of Isaac.”

Big Ten standings

Senior guard Nick Boyd added 21 points for the Badgers, with 19 of them coming in the second half.

The Badgers opened the game with a three-pointer from junior forward Nolan Winter, but the Gophers answered with an 11-0 run. After a three-pointer from former Gophers guard Braeden Carrington pulled the Badgers within 11-6, the Gophers scored nine consecutive points to open a 20-6 lead with 10:52 left in the half.

The Gophers eventually opened a 20-point lead in the final minute before Boyd scored with one second remaining to get the Badgers within 35-17 at halftime.

Durkin was 4-for-5 on three-pointers and 6-of-7 from the field in the first half, as the Gophers made 6-of-16 three-pointers before the intermission.

The Badgers opened the second half with a 20-4 run to pull within 39-37 with 10:37 remaining. Asuma scored eight straight points to help the Gophers extend their lead to 47-39. But Wisconsin went on a 12-3 run to take a 51-50 lead — their first since the first two minutes of the game. Asuma and Durkin later made three-pointers to help the Gophers tie the game 56-56.

Senior guard Langston Reynold’s three-pointer gave the Gophers a 61-60 lead with 2:17 remaining, but Blackwell responded with five straight points to put the Badgers ahead for good.

Blackwell made two free throws with one minute remaining to give the Badgers the lead and then made a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to make it 65-61. Redshirt freshman forward Grayson Grove’s basket with nine seconds remaining pulled the Gophers within 65-63, but Blackwell’s two free throws with seven seconds left sealed the victory.