Gophers fall in Big Ten final but snag at-large bid

INDIANAPOLIS — For the Gophers men’s basketball team, the emotional roller coaster of Selection Sunday was simply a more abrupt version of the one they rode through this season.
There was excited anticipation: The Gophers’ goal of a Big Ten title seemed closer with a talented roster entering the season, and they were the first Minnesota team to play for a conference tournament title on Sunday.
There were disappointments: Two recruits didn’t play, a key starter was ruled ineligible, and the Gophers couldn’t seem to finish off opponents great and small. In Sunday’s Big Ten championship, they stayed close before running out of gas in a 90-61 loss to No. 5 Ohio State.
“Fatigue kind of set in, especially in the second half, towards the end of the game,” sophomore center Ralph Sampson III said. “I feel that it definitely was a factor.”
There was anxiety, both as the Gophers seemed to push themselves to the brink of NCAA tournament contention, and as they waited after Sunday’s game to see how the selection committee would evaluate their surge to win seven of their last 10 games.
“It's not in our hands,” senior guard Lawrence Westbrook said before the tournament field was announced. “I think that we had a good run here [at the Big Ten tournament], and we showed everybody that we're a good team. We've just going to have to hope and pray that we get in.”
In the end, there was exhilaration, as Minnesota’s historic tournament run was rewarded with the announcement on national television that it would travel to Milwaukee — the tournament’s nearest first-round site to Minneapolis — and face Xavier (Atlantic-10) as a No. 11 seed on Friday.
There was an appropriately wild celebration in a room at Conseco Fieldhouse.
“Everyone just started jumping; I think we might have damaged a couch in there,” sophomore guard Devoe Joseph said shortly after the announcement.
Next weekend will be the 16th NCAA tournament appearance in 17 years for Gophers coach Tubby Smith, but this year's berth was among his hardest-earned.
“Our kids have worked extremely hard, especially over the last month, and I think they’ve earned some respect in the way we’ve competed here in Indianapolis,” Smith said. “It tells you a lot about their character; and the type of kids we have in our program are good people. They’re tough; they’ve grown up this year. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Big Ten championship: Ohio State 90, Minnesota 61
Minnesota hung with No. 5 Ohio State until midway through the second half of the Big Ten championship on Sunday afternoon, but the top-seeded Buckeyes pulled away for a 90-61 victory, stealing the Gophers’ chance at an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Big Ten player of the year Evan Turner, already with two impressive performances before Sunday’s championship, scored a game-high 31 points and added 12 rebounds to lock up the most outstanding player of the tournament award.
Gophers senior guard Lawrence Westbrook scored 17 points to lead the Gophers, and sophomore guard Devoe Joseph capped his own solid tournament with 14 points.
In a tight first half, Ohio State’s lead grew no larger than seven points, but Joseph hit a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer and close the Buckeyes lead to 33-30.
Ohio State scored the first eight points of the second half, but the Gophers assembled a 10-1 run, capped by senior guard Devron Bostick’s 3-pointer, to close it to 42-40 with 13:29 remaining.
But Turner hit a baseline jumper over Joseph to jump-start a 23-5 run for the Buckeyes.
The Gophers’ hot shooting the last three days cooled slightly, as they shot 42 percent, while Ohio State shot 57 percent from the field, including 12-of-22 on 3-point shots.