Dawson Garcia’s 31 points led Minnesota to a 77-69 upset of No. 15 Oregon on Saturday afternoon in Big Ten action in Minneapolis.
Garcia made 13 of 19 shots and added six rebounds. Parker Fox added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Lu’Cye Patterson scored 11 points.
The Ducks had a chance to tie, down 70-68 with more than a minute to play. But Garcia drew an offensive foul on Oregon’s TJ Bamba, and Garcia’s layup with 56.5 seconds left made it a four-point game.
The Gophers ended any chance of an Oregon win with a steal by Femi Odukale with 11 seconds to play.
Oregon (16-4, 5-4 Big Ten) got 18 points from Brandon Angel and 15 from Bamba and Jackson Shelstad in losing for the first time on the road this season. Leading scorer Nate Bittle did not register a point.
Both teams are no strangers to close games. Minnesota played in its 10th contest decided by six points or fewer, while Oregon has won several games in comeback fashion. But the Golden Gophers (11-9, 3-6) made more key plays down the stretch to win their third straight game.
Bamba’s layup and free throw at the 17:45 mark of the second half gave Oregon its first lead, 46-44, but the Gophers reclaimed it quickly with back-to-back buckets from Garcia.
From there, Minnesota maintained a slim lead that was five points, 61-56, after a Garcia 3-pointer with 6:55 to play.
Minnesota started the game with hot shooting, building a 26-8 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Garcia hit a pair of 3-pointers in making four of his first five shots.
But the Ducks turned things around as they began to get stops and force turnovers, and an Angel 3-pointer from the corner cut Minnesota’s lead to 29-23 with six minutes to go in the half.
Angel scored 11 straight points for the Ducks during a stretch of the first half, and although Minnesota went up by double digits again, 37-26 on a Fox dunk, Oregon chipped away.
The Gophers took a 44-38 lead into halftime with both teams making more shots than they missed. Minnesota, with 14 points from Garcia and 10 from the active Fox, made 17 of 30 shots for 57 percent.
Oregon got 15 points from Angel and made 14 of 26 shots for 53.8 percent at the break.
–Field Level Media
