Gophers seniors Payton Willis and Eric Curry won't have their jerseys hanging from the rafters at Williams Arena, but the cheers from fans they received in their last home game showed how much they meant to the program.
Gophers seniors Payton Willis and Eric Curry have emotional last home game: "They'll be hard to replace."
The seniors treasure their final opportunity to play together at the Barn.
February 28, 2022 at 5:58AM
Willis nearly helped the Gophers pull off the upset singlehandedly with 28 points on seven three-pointers in Sunday's 84-79 loss against Indiana at Williams Arena.
Curry, who overcame three season-ending injuries during his career, wasn't as impactful on the final box score, but his leadership and inspiration as a teammate for the Gophers this season can't be measured in just numbers.
"I'm sure when it's all said and done, I'll reflect on it," Willis said about being able to play with his best friend this season. "It's just beautiful to be able to go out there and play with my brother."
Willis transferred back to Minnesota from College of Charleston last year to reunite with Curry, who delayed being a graduate assistant on first-year coach Ben Johnson's staff.
"I always catch myself in the middle of games," Curry said. "When [Willis] is making big shots and doing things like he did tonight. I'm just smiling because I hadn't played with him since high school as 16-year-old kids. Now we're old and he's doing what he's doing on one of the biggest stages."
The former AAU teammates were both playing the best basketball of their careers until being hit with illness a week ago. They were under the weather when the Gophers suffered blowout losses at Penn State and Ohio State.
In last weekend's 77-60 victory over Northwestern, Willis was sidelined with COVID-19 protocol, but Curry fought through flu-like symptoms to give the Gophers a frontcourt presence.
Curry and Wills helped the Gophers overcome adversity this season and showed why they were such a big get for Johnson, who got emotional talking about them in the postgame press conference.
"I know how much time these guys put into it," Johnson said. "You just want to see them be successful. You kind of don't want it to end as a head coach. These guys will be hard to replace."
Fox sighting
Junior forward Parker Fox, who was out for the season after having knee surgery last spring, participated in team warmups before Sunday's game.
The springy 6-8 Mahtomedi native and former Division II All-America put on a show for the crowd with several dunks, but he didn't suit up on the bench during the game.
The Gophers are still planning to redshirt Fox, who played last season at Northern State in South Dakota.
After three consecutive losses, No. 16 Minnesota benefitted from Julia Hanson’s biggest output of her career.
