Everyone wanted to see how Michigan Basketball would respond after its first loss of the season over the weekend and Tuesday night’s showdown with Minnesota at home provided that opportunity. It was not pretty early, but they powered through and got back on track on a buzzer beater from Charles Matthews.
The Wolverines (18-1, 7-1 B1G) beat the Golden Gophers (14-5, 4-4 B1G) by a score of 59-57 in a return to Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Tuesday evening. Ignas Brazdeikis led the team in scoring with 18 points. Jon Teske had another strong game with 15 points and five 5 rebounds of his own.
The first half was disastrous offensively for Michigan, as they shot 31.4 percent from the field and were 2-for-14 from beyond the arc. Their struggles were perhaps headlined by Brazdeikis, who went 0-for-7 to start the game from the floor before a pair of buckets before the half got him going a bit. Minnesota would take a 31-28 lead into the locker room.
Then, Michigan woke up. They would go on a 22-8 run to start the second half to at one point take a 50-39 lead before the Gophers stormed back and made it a game with a few minutes to play, getting the lead down to 57-54 in favor of Michigan with a minute to play. Minnesota hit a three with under 30 seconds to play to tie the game at 57-57. Matthews hit the buzzer-beating shot with no time left on the clock and after a lengthy review from the officiating crew, they determined the basket was good and the Wolverines were victors.
Next up for the Wolverines is a rematch with Indiana on the road on Friday night in a game that tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET.