Another game and another overtime thriller for the Gophers men’s basketball team as they held on to beat Michigan 83-78 Sunday night at Williams Arena.
It’s the fifth straight win for the Gophers (20-7, 8-6), who have now reached 20 wins on the season and 8 in the Big Ten.
“It’s cliche, but they don’t seem to get too high or too low. I think a lot of that has to do with Nate Mason – he’s pretty level headed,” head coach Richard Pitino said after the game. “To lose five in a row and then to just come right back and win five in a row says a lot about the guys. They’re a very mentally tough group. They really only care about winning. I haven’t had any issues with any ego. I haven’t had any issue with guys caring about playing time, shots … they just care about winning.”
Big picture
In last week’s bracketology at ESPN.com, the Gophers were penciled in as a 7-seed and on the rise. It’ll be interesting to see if Joe Lunardi puts Minnesota or Northwestern up to a 6-seed and drops Maryland from a 6 to a 7 after losing to Wisconsin.
Regardless, Minnesota has a chance to jump Maryland with a road win over the Terrapins on Wednesday.
The Gophers are currently positioned to finish fifth or sixth in the Big Ten.
