Gophers gouge Hoosiers

A foul with 3.6 seconds left and two free throws by Minnesota freshman forward Kris Humphries proved to be the difference as IU lost its third-straight home game, 73-71, to the Golden Gophers (10-14, 2-10 Big Ten).\nSenior center George Leach was whistled for the foul after a three-point attempt by junior guard Ryan Tapak clanked off the rim. Humphries pulled down the board, and sophomore guard Bracey Wright appeared to force a jump ball, but the referee called Leach for his fifth.\n"We wanted one shot, just one shot," IU coach Mike Davis said. "We wanted to work the ball around until there was four seconds. We wanted to make sure when we shot the basketball, the clock was going off because the worst that could happen was overtime."\nIU still had a chance with 3.6 seconds left, and a deep pass found its way to sophomore Marshall Strickland. He forced an off-balance shot, and time expired.\nThe Hoosiers (12-11, 6-6) took a seven-point lead with 3:38 to go on a Wright jumper, but from there, the Gophers outscored IU 11-2. Nine of those points came from Humphries, including two three-pointers.\n"(Humphries) was in a flow, there's no question," Minnesota coach Dan Monson said. "He was the man today."\nThe Gophers tied the game with 17.3 seconds left when junior guard Brent Lawson drove the lane, made the basket and drew a blocking foul on freshman Roderick Wilmont.\n"What can I say, you guys saw the last two minutes of the game, and we couldn't play any dumber than what we played," Davis said. \nLeach's career-high of 26 points was spoiled by the foul at the end. Strickland said it's frustrating that the Hoosiers can't finish out home games.