National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 51, Northwestern 46
When: 6:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Larry Scirotto, # Robert Riley, # Bo Boroski
Attendance: N/A

Minnesota overcame a seven-point deficit with a game-ending 12-0 run to defeat Northwestern 51-46 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

The Golden Gophers (14-14) ended a seven-game losing streak and will play No. 5 seed Ohio State (18-8) on Thursday with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals vs. fourth-seed Purdue (18-8) on Friday.

Minnesota defeated visiting Ohio State 77-60 on Jan. 3 in the lone meeting.

Tre' Williams led the Gophers with 14 points, Jamal Mashburn Jr. had 11 and Marcus Carr 10.

Miller Kopp had nine points for Northwestern (9-15).

The Wildcats came all the way back from a 14-point deficit to take their first lead, 40-38, when Kopp rebounded his own shot and scored with 7:02 left in the game.

When Robbie Beran hit a 3-pointer with 4:15 left, the Wildcats extended the lead to 46-39 as part of a 16-3 run, but those would be their final points.

The Golden Gophers took a 47-46 lead on a Carr jumper with 1:58 to play.

Carr made two of three free throws with 1:12 left to go up 49-46. Brandon Johnson hit a foul shot to make it 50-46 with 21 seconds left and Northwestern turned the ball over on its next possession before Carr added another foul shot with nine seconds left.

Minnesota was again without two top players. Gabe Kalscheur (finger) missed his seventh straight game and Liam Robbins (sprained ankle) sat out his fifth in a row.

Northwestern got off to a poor start but rallied to trail 27-20 at the half. The Wildcats missed their first seven shots until Ryan Greer's layup with 13:05 left made it 7-2.

A 3-pointer by Both Gach increased the Minnesota lead to 16-2 before Kopp made Northwestern's first triple after six misses. The Wildcats were able to pull to within 23-17 on a Ryan Young bucket with 2:07 left.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Northwestern
Tre' Williams 14 Scoring Miller Kopp 9
Marcus Carr 6 Assists Boo Buie 3
Eric Curry 12 Rebounds Pete Nance 11
Marcus Carr 4 Free Throws Made Chase Audige 2
Eric Curry 2 Steals Chase Audige 3
Brandon Johnson 2 Blocks Chase Audige 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Minnesota 51 36.7 5-20 10-24 10 35 5 7 17
Northwestern 46 31.0 5-18 5-12 9 36 2 9 14