Gophers men’s basketball team sinks Nebraska on Brennan Rigsby’s three-pointer in final seconds

Ben Johnson’s Gophers are a completely different basketball team on the road.

Despite the Gophers blowing a 19-point lead in the second half Saturday afternoon, Brennan Rigsby’s three-pointer with 4.1 seconds to play gave them the program’s first win at Pinnacle Bank Arena in a 67-65 upset at Nebraska.

Johnson could breathe a sigh of relief after a one-sided game nearly got away from the Gophers (15-14, 7-11 Big Ten), who had lost consecutive home games vs. Northwestern and Penn State and moved to the Big Ten tournament bubble.

“I don’t know if I’ve been prouder of a group than this team,” Johnson said on postgame radio. “To battle the way we did from start to finish, especially after how last week went. The resiliency and the toughness, these guys have so much in them.”

Boosted by a sweep of USC and UCLA in Los Angeles last month, the Gophers improved to 5-4 on the road this season, including four straight victories.

“We for whatever reason feel so confident on the road,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how to quite explain it.”

The Gophers received a boost Saturday with 31 bench points, including Rigsby scoring a career-high 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting, 5-for-6 from three-point range.

In the Feb. 4 win at Penn State, Rigsby gave the Gophers a lift off the bench with 14 points, but he had only scored a combined three points in the four games before Nebraska with limited minutes.

“We had three games left guaranteed, so it was go time,” Rigsby said on the radio. “No more mess-ups. We got a super competitive team. We all love basketball.”

Saturday ended the U’s 10-game losing streak at Nebraska since the last victory in Lincoln at the old Bob Devaney Center on Feb. 5, 2012.

Nebraska fans were on their feet after Juwan Gary scored on an offensive rebound with 9.7 seconds remaining to give them the lead.

Lu’Cye Patterson, who had 16 points and looked exhausted after the game, crossed midcourt with the ball and found his streaking teammate on the right wing. Rigsby drilled the go-ahead three-pointer. Waseca’s Andrew Morgan then had a deep shot fall short at the buzzer for Nebraska.

The Huskers (17-12, 7-11) couldn’t afford a bad loss as they try to stay in NCAA Tournament contention. They rallied in the second half by outscoring the Gophers 27-7, with Gary’s free throws giving Nebraska a 55-54 lead.

But Rigsby’s fourth three-pointer of the game put the Gophers ahead 62-57 with over two minutes left.

After Dawson Garcia picked up his fourth foul and appeared too hurt to return, Frank Mitchell’s tip shot put the Gophers ahead 64-61 with 41 seconds to play.

In a Jan. 16 overtime win vs. Michigan at home, Garcia was the hero with a buzzer-beating logo shot, but he was sidelined with an apparent ankle injury late Saturday. He finished with nine points, six rebounds and four fouls in 29 minutes.

In the first half, the Gophers scored 10 straight points during a 16-2 run to make it 33-17 with Garcia scoreless, but Nebraska trimmed their lead to nine points at halftime.

Garcia, who averages 19.6 points, scored his first points on a three-pointer that was part of a 9-0 run to open the second half. Patterson’s long-range bomb stretched it to 44-26 around the 17-minute mark.

The Huskers put together a comeback behind a combined 42 points from Gary and Brice Williams, but they suffered their fourth loss in five games, including a second straight at home.

The Gophers, who were in 15th place before the win, now have a chance to solidify their chance to make the Big Ten tourney in a rematch Wednesday against rival Wisconsin at Williams Arena.

The Gophers desperately need to bring confidence home after four straight losses at the Barn.

Saturday’s ending reminded Johnson of some bad luck when Rigsby missed a potential game-winning three in the overtime loss vs. Wichita State on Thanksgiving in Orlando.

“The minute it left his hands, I could just tell by the rotation it was going to have the chance,” Johnson said this time. “I firmly believe the basketball gods were rewarding Brennan.”