Minnesota wins at Northwestern, 84-78

Gopher basketball has not won at Northwestern since February of 2020, but on Saturday afternoon, they came from behind to beat Northwestern 84-78. Cade Tyson led the way with 24 points, but this was a total team effort. Langston Reynolds flirted with a triple-double with 13 points, 13 assists and six rebounds. Isaac Asuma was 4/7 from three and finished with 18 points. And even Grayon Grove contributed with 12 points, including four dunks in the 2nd half as the Gophers were clawing their way back. As usual, the team moved the ball and finished with 25 assists on 28 field goals.

THE STAT: All-around a great game. The near triple-double was mentioned, Tyson scored a bunch of points again and there are a number of stats we could point to that contributed to this win. But most important, perhaps the most surprising, was the team shooting 22/26 from the free throw line. Minnesota’s struggles at the line are painfully obvious. They have been shooting free throws at a 69% rate this season, ranking 272nd nationally. But shooting 85% today was critical. They made free throws down the stretch, when it mattered most. And even Reynolds, a 46% free-throw shooter, was 5/6 for the game.

TURNING POINT: The Wildcats were holding the Gophers at arm’s length for most of the second half, leading by five to seven points for most of the time. Two free throws by Northwestern with 4:39 put them back up by seven, 60-67. But at that point, the Gophers went on a 12-3 run sparked by two of Grove’s dunks, a Tyson 3-point play and contributions from Reynolds and Jalen Crocker-Johnson. The Gophers extended the lead to six, then held on in the final minute of Northwestern’s desperation.

HOT: This is really hard to narrow down. Asuma shot the ball well and had 18, tying his career high. Reynolds going 5/6 from the line feels like a minor miracle. And Tyson scoring 24 in a road, Big Ten game was also critical. But this one has to go to Grove who had four dunks in the second half and his 12 points off the bench were incredible. This team has a very thin rotation— Asuma, Tyson and Reynolds played 40 minutes – and getting double-digits off the bench is huge.

NOT: Bobby Durkin is the team’s best three-point shooter and he had an off day. The junior was 0/3 from three and just 1/5 for the game.

GOOD MOVE: Crocker-Johnson was tasked with guarding Nick Martinelli, Northwestern’s leading scorere and best player. Martinelli finished with 26 but Crocker-Johnson made him work for every one of those points. He and Tyson did a nice job of being physical

NOTABLE: Typically, playing games in Evanston is like cryptonite for the Gophers. So getting their first road win of the season and winning at Northwestern is notable.

UP NEXT: On Tuesday the Gophers will host Iowa, the first of three straight home games. The game will be on BTN at 7:00.