Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 25 points and Elijah Hawkins made two free throws with 5.3 seconds left as the Golden Gophers defeated Butler 73-72 on Tuesday night in the NIT.
It's Minnesota's first postseason victory since an NCAA Tournament win over Louisville in 2019, and their first NIT win since 2014 when they won the championship.
The Gophers trailed much of the second half, but came through in the clutch. Parker Fox forced a turnover with under 10 seconds remaining which lead to a Butler foul. Hawkins, who had 11 points, drilled both free throws with five seconds left for the go-ahead point. Butler got a very difficult look at the buzzer that missed wide.
Garcia went 11 of 19 from the field (1 for 4 from 3-point range) for the Golden Gophers (19-14). Hawkins added, six rebounds, 15 assists and three steals. Pharrel Payne had 11 points and shot 4 of 8 from the field and 3 for 6 from the line.
Jahmyl Telfort led the way for the Bulldogs (18-15) with 25 points and six rebounds. Butler also got 13 points and four steals from Posh Alexander. DJ Davis finished with 13 points and seven assists.
Payne scored 10 points in the first half and Minnesota went into halftime trailing 38-36. Garcia put up 17 points in the second half.
Next up for Minnesota is the winner of Indiana State and SMU who play on Wednesday. Indiana State is the top seed and of course is the alma mater of Larry Bird.