MINNEAPOLIS — Langston Reynolds scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, including a go-ahead layup with 11 seconds left to give Minnesota a 67-66 victory Saturday on Senior Night at The Barn in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Reynolds was 9 of 13 from the floor and scored the final four points over the last 26 seconds for the Golden Gophers (15-16, 8-12 Big Ten), both on coast-to-coast drives.
Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, who scored a game-high 23, missed a 3-point attempt on the final possession, and the Wildcats (13-18, 5-15) couldn’t get off another shot.
The Golden Gophers had a 39-29 lead at the half after opening the game with an 18-2 run fueled by nine points from Isaac Asuma. Bobby Durkin hit a 3-pointer to put Minnesota ahead 58-48 with 9:28 to play.
But Martinelli, the Big Ten scoring leader at 22.7 points per game, led a 13-5 Northwestern run with 11 points to cut it to 63-61 with 2:37 left. Jordan Clayton then hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 64-63 with 1:34 remaining.
Angelo Ciaravino, a Mount Carmel graduate, made two free throws with 34 seconds left to extend the NU lead to three, but Reynolds took over from there, scoring on a driving dunk to pull the Gophers within one and then hitting the eventual winning layup.
Cade Tyson had 15 points, Asuma added 14 points and eight rebounds and Durkin scored 12 for Minnesota.
Jake West scored 14 points, and Tre Singleton had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists for Northwestern.
Up next
- Northwestern will be the No. 15 seed in the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center and face No. 18 seed Penn State on Tuesday in the first round.
- Minnesota will enter as the No. 11 seed and face No. 14 seed Rutgers in the second round Wednesday.
Tribune news services contributed.
