Minnesota wins on last-second effort

INDIANAPOLIS – In a season of ups and downs, the IU men’s basketball team hit rock bottom Friday night against Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.\nGolden Gopher guard Blake Hoffarber hit a game-winning shot from 15 feet as time expired to knock the No. 3 seed Hoosiers out of the conference tournament.\n“That’s a tough loss,” IU interim coach Dan Dakich said after the game.\nTrailing by two points with 11 seconds left, freshman guard Eric Gordon drove down the length of the court before getting fouled while attempting a layup.\nGordon missed his first attempt from the line. With just three seconds remaining, Gordon purposely missed the second free throw – a shot senior forward D.J. White rebounded and put back in for a score. White was fouled as he put in the layup, giving the Hoosiers a chance to take the lead.\nWhite missed the front end of the one-and-one, but recovered the rebound and was fouled again with 1.5 seconds left. The senior hit one of two, giving the Hoosiers a one-point lead and setting the scene for the last-second heroics by Hoffarber.\n“To tell the truth, I just remember it sailing over my head,” White said. “I turned around, and the shot was going in.”\nThe No. 22 Hoosiers (25-7) started slow for the second consecutive game as the Gophers raced to a 19-5 lead in the first eight minutes of the contest. The Hoosiers shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first half and committed several costly turnovers.\nIU rallied with baskets from freshman guard Jordan Crawford and Gordon to cut the Gopher lead to seven points \nat halftime.\n“We didn’t come to play to start the game,” Dakich said. “Over the course of the last 30 minutes of the game I thought we competed. We didn’t hit shots, but we competed on the defensive end.”\nA pair of free throws from White tied the game at the 15:51 mark in the second half, sending the Hoosier faithful in Conseco Fieldhouse to their feet. The two teams battled down the stretch with neither team pulling away.\nWith 2:01 remaining, Minnesota looked as if it was going to pull away, taking a five-point lead. However, the interim heroics by Gordon and White pushed the Hoosiers into the lead before Hoffarber’s shot won the game for the Golden Gophers.\nWhite, like most of the Hoosier players after the game, was visibly shaken up after the last-second defeat.\n“Losses like this always hurt,” White said. “You never forget it. There is nothing you can do about it now, so we have to put it behind us.”\nDakich said the loss was particularly painful because he believed this team had the chance to advance far in the conference tournament.\n“That was a real chance to maybe do something special with this group here in this tournament given the fact we would have stolen it had we won,” Dakich said.\nIt is important for the Hoosiers to put the loss behind them and look forward to the NCAA Tournament, which is another chance for something special to happen Dakich said. The coach said he is confident his team will respond.\n“Kids are resilient,” Dakish said. “Kids bounce back.”