Garcia’s Buzzer Beater Gives Gophers Win over No. 20 Michigan

Dawson Garcia’s buzzer-beating three-pointer from the edge of the midcourt logo handed Minnesota (9-9, 1-6 Big Ten) its first Big Ten win of the season in a stunning, come-from-behind 84-81 overtime upset against No. 20/19 Michigan (13-4, 5-1 B1G) at Williams Arena. The win was Minnesota’s second-straight over Michigan, as the Gophers won, 73-71, in Ann Arbor on Jan. 4, 2024.
 
The Gophers, who lost a heartbreaking 89-88 decision to Ohio State in double overtime in their most recent home game on Jan. 6, rallied from a 40-31 halftime deficit to secure the win. It was Minnesota’s first victory against a Top 25 team in head coach Ben Johnson‘s tenure. The last time the Gophers beat a Top 25 team was a 71-68 home win versus No. 24 Purdue on Feb. 11, 2021. The last time the Gophers defeated the Wolverines at Williams Arena was Jan. 16, 2021, a 75-57 victory.

 
Garcia led all scorers with 27 points and added a season-high 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season. He was 10-of-23 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, was 5-of-6 at the line, and four assists, three steals, and two blocked shots. Garcia was one of three Gophers players with 20-point games, as Lu’Cye Patterson finished with a season-high 22 points and Mike Mitchell Jr. had 20. Patterson made 8-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-5 treys, while adding six rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. Mitchell Jr. was 8-of-19, including 4-of-12 from long-range, with four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Femi Odukale finished with seven points, a team-high seven assists, and five rebounds, and Isaac Asuma had four points.
 
Michigan was paced by Danny Wolf’s 23 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, with 20 points coming after halftime. Vladislav Goldin finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines, who lost their first Big Ten game.
 
Patterson opened the scoring for Minnesota, and a Garcia layup and a free throw by Odukale gave the Gophers their first lead at 5-2. Michigan used an 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead before Asuma scored on consecutive possessions to cut it to 10-9 with 13:57 left in the half. The Wolverines once again stretched the lead to five points, but Trey Edmonds banked one off the glass, Garcia scored on a breakaway dunk, and Odukale gave the Gophers a 15-14 lead with a fast-break layup. Michigan’s third three-pointer put it back in the lead midway through the half, and its fourth made it a 20-15 advantage. Mitchell Jr. scored on back-to-back possessions and Frank Mitchell’s layup cut the deficit to 22-21. Another 5-0 Michigan run extended the lead to six points before Mitchell Jr. knocked down the Gophers’ first three-pointer in 11 tries to cut it to 27-24. A three-point play had Michigan back up by six, but Garcia hit a jumper from just inside the arc at the top of the key and then connected from just outside the arc to pull Minnesota within one. Another Wolverines run, this time 10-0 over a two-minute, 20-second span, extended the lead to 40-29 with 1:23 remaining. A baseline jumper by Mitchell Jr. with 1:02 left ended the run for Michigan and sent the Gophers to the half trailing 40-31.
 
Garcia and Mitchell Jr. led Minnesota with nine points apiece at the half, with Garcia adding three rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Minnesota made 14-of-35 (.400) field goals, but was just 2-of-14 (.143) from three-point range. Michigan controlled the boards, with a 27-14 lead, but the Gophers had a 16-12 edge in points in the paint. Will Tschetter and Tre Donaldson each had 11 points, and Goldin added 10 points and six rebounds. The Wolverines were 14-of-33 (.424) from the field, including 7-of-13 (.538) from long-range, and 5-of-5 at the line.
 
A three-pointer by Mitchell Jr. and a putback dunk from Odukale cut the deficit to 42-36 early in the second half. Patterson hit a deep three and Odukale added a layup, and the Gophers pulled within four points at 45-41. Michigan extended its lead to 51-41 during a four-minute, 39-second scoring drought for the Gophers before Garcia hit 1-of-2 at the line with 12:27 remaining. Down nine, Patterson made a pair of free throws, hit a three-pointer with a hand in his face, added a baseline jumper, and Garcia scored on a fastbreak layup to make it a 10-0 run and tie the score with 10:17 remaining, forcing a Michigan timeout. Garcia knotted the score at 53-53, but the Wolverines pulled back in front by six with 6:34 left, before a three from Mitchell Jr. trimmed Michigan’s lead to 59-56. A pair of free throws and a putback layup by Garcia pulled the Gophers within one, and a layup by Patterson with 4:13 remaining gave Minnesota a 62-61 lead, sending the crowd into a frenzy and forcing another Wolverines timeout. A baseline jumper by Mitchell Jr. on an inbounds play put the Gophers up 64-61, but a three at the other end tied the score with 3:05 on the clock. Garcia’s layup as the shot clock expired made it 66-64, but Michigan’s Goldin tied it with a pair of free throws, and the Wolverines led 68-66 with 1:13 left after a layup by Nimari Burnett. Patterson connected on an ear-ringing three-pointer from the top of the key with 50 seconds left, putting the Gophers up 69-68. Minnesota came up with a stop at the defensive end of the court, but turned the ball over, and Wolf’s three from the top of the key gave Michigan a 71-69 lead with 28.9 seconds left. Garcia hit a pair of free throws with 7.4 seconds on the clock, tying the score, and Michigan’s attempt at a game-winner was off the mark to send the game to overtime.
 
Mitchell Jr. hit from beyond the arc and Patterson scored along the baseline to put Minnesota up, 76-75, early in OT, and Garcia’s floater in the lane put the Gophers up three. A pair of free throws from Wolf, and one from Burnett tied the score at 78-78, and Minnesota called timeout with 1:05 remaining in OT. Patterson’s jumper in the paint with 0:47 left put the Gophers up 80-78. The teams each hit a free throw, making it 81-79, and Wolf’s layup with 0:07 left tied the score, but Garcia’s last-second three from the edge of the logo was good for the upset victory. It was Minnesota’s first buzzer beating win since March 2, 2023 against Rutgers. 
 
Minnesota returns to the road for a game at Iowa on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 8:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network.