Men’s Basketball Rallies For Win at Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minn. – Trailing by 20 points with just over 11 minutes remaining, the Missouri men’s basketball team rallied past Minnesota, 70-68, on Thursday night.

The Tigers finished the game on a 31-9 run to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Gophers, meanwhile, suffered their first loss of the season and are now 2-1 on the year.

Graduate Nick Honor led the rally, scoring the first 10 points for Mizzou after going down by 20 and finishing with 16 points overall. Classmate Noah Carter also scored in double figures with 13 points and a team-best six rebounds.

The Gophers got off to a hot start in the contest, making their first five 3-pointers and seven of their first 10 in building a 30-20 lead. The Tigers fought back and a 7-0 run pulled the visitors to within three, 30-27, before the teams headed into the locker room with Minnesota ahead by six, 38-32.

The momentum carried over for the hosts in the second half, scoring the first eight points and forcing an early timeout by Mizzou as it trailed by 14, 46-32. The Tigers quickly pulled back within seven, 46-39, after a 7-0 run but Minnesota answered with a 13-0 stretch for its largest lead of the game, 59-39, with 11:25 remaining.

It was all Mizzou from there. Honor’s 10 points to start pulled Missouri to within 12, 61-49, with just over nine minutes remaining. With the Gophers then leading by 11, the Tigers scored the next nine points to make the contest a two-point game, 65-63, with just under four minutes left.

The Tigers eventually pulled even at 67 after four free throws by Tamar Bates. Minnesota reclaimed its lead with a free throw of its own but graduate guard Sean East II completed the comeback with an and-one with 9.9 seconds remaining, giving Mizzou its first lead of the game and the only one that mattered.

Missouri shot 44.4 percent in the winning effort, making 10-of-12 field goals during a key stretch of the rally. The Tigers also made 34.8 percent from 3-point range (8-23) and committed only eight turnovers on the day. Mizzou, meanwhile, held the Golden Gophers to 41.4 percent shooting with 16 turnovers on the night.

The Tigers are back in action Sunday, opening a three-game homestand by hosting Jackson State at 5 p.m.