Gophers overcome halftime deficit, crush Northwestern 74-57 in first round of Big Ten basketball tournament

INDIANAPOLIS – Richard Pitino and his Gophers men's basketball team weren't looking past extending the season one more day in the Big Ten tournament.

In many tough losses this season, the Gophers seemed to put too much pressure on themselves. They were looking ahead at how many victories it would take to achieve their postseason goals.

Even after falling behind at halftime Wednesday against Northwestern, the Gophers didn't panic like they had in the past.

Daniel Oturu had another dominant game with 15 of his 24 points in the first half, but his teammates eventually gave him enough support to avoid an early exit, recording a 74-57 victory over the Wildcats in front of the first — and last — day of fans at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The 12th-seeded Gophers (15-16), who play fifth-seeded Iowa at 1:30 p.m. in the second of Thursday's four second-round games, hit nine of their 12 three-pointers in the second half to secure their third victory this season over the 13th-seeded Wildcats (8-23).

"We've lost so many close games," Pitino said. "We've had some devastating ones, but it's an easy group to coach. Their great kids. They're fun to be around and stayed the course. So, hopefully we can take advantage of a great opportunity."

During the first half, the public address announcer heard jeers from the crowd while relaying a message from the conference: For the remaining four days of the tournament, fans will not be permitted to watch because of coronavirus concerns.

The responsibility fell on the four teams playing in the first round Wednesday to put on a show for fans. The first half of Gophers-Wildcats was anything but beautiful basketball, with exception to Oturu. Both teams combined to shoot 2-for-20 to start the game, but Northwestern led 31-29 at halftime.

It took some time, but the Gophers eventually showed signs of the team that hit a program-record 18 three-pointers in a 107-75 victory over Nebraska on Sunday.

Coming off his school record-tying eight threes in that game, Gabe Kalscheur went cold in the first half with 1-for-9 shooting, including 0-for-5 from long distance. But Kalscheur never lost his confidence. The sophomore from DeLaSalle hit the first basket after halftime, a jumper to tie the score. A minute later, Kalscheur sank his only three of the game to give the Gophers a lead.

The turning point then came when Alihan Demir made his first three since January 15. The senior graduate transfer snapped his streak of 23 straight misses from beyond the arc Wednesday with a three during a 7-0 run on his own in the second half for a 43-36 Minnesota advantage.

Others would eventually join the three-point barrage. Willis hit back-to-back shots from deep, followed by Oturu. Carr's fourth triple made it 69-47 with 6:15 left to play and that rout was official.

"It was kind of a mentality coming out after halftime that we weren't playing how we wanted to play," Carr said. "We were being more aggressive, getting assisted jump shots, driving the ball and kicking it out to get guys open. We were getting good looks and shooting with confidence."

In the past two games, the Gophers are hitting 30-for-59 from three-point range. In their past two victories against Northwestern, they have also hit 26 threes combined, including Carr's 4-for-6 shooting Wednesday.

"We tried to be a little bit more aggressive and make other guys be playmakers," Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "I thought for awhile it went well, but they adjusted."

The Gophers played themselves out of realistic NCAA tournament contention with eight losses in 10 games in February and early March, but their efficiency numbers are still impressive.

They were the only team in the top 30 of Ken Pomeroy's overall rankings with a losing record entering the Big Ten tournament. The Gophers' KenPom ranking of 27th is the highest under Pitino, but all that matters is the second-half surge Wednesday kept their season alive for another day.

"We've been playing good basketball," Pitino said. "We just had a couple bounces not go our way. I think it's a good team. I really do. You look at our numbers across the board. We're a young team that's played a very, very tough schedule."