MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Forgive Cory Provus if he brought a little Twins baseball to Thursday's FOX Sports Network broadcast.
The voice of the Twins was adjacent to the raised court of Williams Arena this time, not far from the currently frozen confines of Target Field.
Former Prior Lake High School standout Dawson Garcia made a 3-pointer from the near edge of the center-court logo to give Minnesota an 84-81 overtime victory over No. 20 Michigan on Thursday night.
"Ballgame! Gophers walk it off!" Provus shouted in his familiar cadence.
Wolverines tied it on Danny Wolf’s driving layup with seven seconds to play. But the Gophers had time to bring the ball upcourt, where Lu’Cye Patterson found Garcia for the winner from the “M” logo. The jumper gave fourth-year coach Ben Johnson his first career victory over a ranked team.
A bunch of students in the announced crowd of 8,877 swarmed onto the court after the final buzzer, surrounding Garcia at the foul line on the opposite side of the game-winner.
Garcia — whose two free throws with 7.4 seconds to play sent the game to overtime tied at 71 — finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Gophers (9-9, 1-6 Big Ten). Patterson, who played high school ball at Minnesota Prep Academy, scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, and Mike Mitchell Jr. added 20 points.
Wolf led Michigan (13-4, 5-1) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Vladislav Goldin had 18 points and eight rebounds, Stewartville native Will Tschetter scored 15 points and Tre Donaldson added 14.
Takeaway
One year after a surprise middle-of-the-pack finish for the Gophers, Johnson’s transfer-decimated roster showed tenacity, coming back from a 10-point deficit in the second half.
Key moment
Midway through the second half, with Michigan leading 51-42, Patterson hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer before Goldin missed a wide-open dunk on the other end. Patterson connected on a baseline jumper, and after a Wolverines turnover, Garcia scored in transition to tie the game at 51.
Key stat
After shooting a scorching 46.3% on 3-pointers in their last five games, the Wolverines hit on 11 of 22 from beyond the arc, their sixth straight straight game with 10-plus 3-pointers.
Up next
Minnesota visits Iowa on Tuesday night.