Thursday’s loss was the fifth straight for Minnesota, which desperately needed a solid outing in the Big Ten tournament to have a chance at an NCAA tournament bid.
“This was something we wanted to do our whole lives–get to the NCAA tournament,” said junior forward Michael Bauer, who scored eight of his team’s first 10 points in the first 3 minutes 50 seconds and finished with 16.
“We knew we just had to play well here, and we didn’t. Now we’re hoping we get into some tournament after this.”
With a 16-12 record, the Gophers appear headed to the National Invitation Tournament for the third straight year.
Slow start, strong finish: Northwestern overcame a 15-6 deficit in the first five minutes of the game and outscored Minnesota 70-49 over the last 34:59, building its biggest lead of 14 at 55-69 with 12:03 left in regulation.
Cold as ice: The Gophers were just 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from the line.
“Just inexcusable,” said Minnesota coach Dan Monson.
Long-range big men: The contest pitted the top three-point shooters in the nation of 6 feet 11 inches or taller in Northwestern’s Aaron Jennings and Minnesota’s Rick Rickert. Rickert finished 1-of-4 from three-point range, while Jennings was 2-of-5.
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