Michigan
18-1; 7-1
Minnesota
14-5; 4-4
Matthews' Buzzer-Beater Puts Emphatic End to Minnesota's Upset Bid
1/22/2019 10:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Charles Matthews' basket as time expired gave Michigan a 59-57 win.
» Ignas Brazdeikis scored a game-high 18 points, while tying a career-best 11 rebounds.
» Jon Teske added 15 points and five rebounds.
» Michigan has won its last 19 home games.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: #5 Michigan 59, Minnesota 57
Records: U-M (18-1, 7-1 Big Ten), Minnesota (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Jan. 25 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 6:30 p.m. (TV: FS1)
• Watch: Coach Beilein Postgame Press Conference
• Kornacki: Matthews Breaks Down Thrilling Buzzer-Beater
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 5 AP, No. 6 Coaches Poll) dispatched Minnesota, 59-57, Tuesday night (Jan. 22) on a last-second shot from Charles Matthews.
The win is Michigan's 19th consecutive at Crisler Crisler; the Wolverines' last loss at home came on Jan. 9, 2018, against Purdue.
Ignas Brazdeikis scored a game-high 18 points, tied a career-best 11Â rebounds and dished out two assists. Jon Teske added 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and grabbed five boards. Matthews finished with seven points and six rebounds.
The Wolverines got off to a slow start, trailing, 6-0, in the first three minutes of the game. Michigan's first field goal came on a Jordan Poole layup at 16:19, followed closely by a Brazdeikis free throw to cut the lead to 6-5.
A three-pointer from Isaiah Livers with 14:14 remaining ignited the Michigan offense and brought Michigan within two, 10-8. Minnesota responded by hitting its next three field goal attempts and increased its lead to 16-8.
The Golden Gophers dominated inside over the first eight minutes, holding a 10-2 advantage scoring in the paint.
Minnesota held its largest lead of the evening, 19-10, on a Gabe Kalscheur three-pointer with 10:16 to go in the first half. An Eli Brooks alley-oop pass found Teske for a layup, and that was followed by a Brazdeikis steal that led to a Matthews fast-break bucket to cut the deficit to five points.
The momentum spurred the Wolverine offense to a 5-0 run, capped off by a Teske three-pointer to tie the game at 23 with 5:16 remaining in the first half. The teams traded buckets in the last five minutes, and Minnesota led, 31-28, at the break.
Michigan's leading scorers at the half were Teske (11 points) and Livers (five).
A three-pointer followed by a coast-to-coast layup from Brazdeikis got the second half started for the Wolverines, and Minnesota led, 36-35, in the first two and a half minutes of the second period. After a free throw on the other end, Brazdeikis drew a foul attempting a three-point shot and sank two of three free throws to tie the game at 37 with 16:00 remaining.
Zavier Simpson's hook-shot layup followed by a steal and fast-break layup gave Michigan its first lead of the game, 41-37.
Michigan came out shooting much stronger in the first eight minutes of the second half, converting at a 56-percent clip, compared to just 31 percent from the field in the first half. Michigan led 46-39 at the under-12:00 media timeout.
Shortly thereafter, Livers threw down a two-handed dunk to extend Michigan's lead to 50-39 with 9:53 to play and force a Minnesota timeout.
Over the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Wolverines outscored the Golden Gophers 24-8, including a five-minute, 11-0 run. Brazdeikis was key during this stretch, contributing 13 points on 2-for-4 shooting and nine free-throw attempts.
After trading baskets for the next five minutes, Minnesota was able to chip away at the lead, and Michigan led, 57-51, with 2:42 to go in the game.
Back-to-back Gopher buckets cut Michigan's lead to 57-54 with one minute remaining in regulation. A three-pointer from the wing by Kalscheur tied the game at 57 with 30.6 seconds to play and capped a 10-0 Minnesota run.
With just under 30 seconds to play, the Wolverines called a timeout to draw up the final play of the game. Simpson held the ball at half court until 14 seconds remained. Simpson gave to Brazdeikis, who missed a layup attempt, but Matthews got the rebound and sank a buzzer-beater from the baseline to end Michigan's 0-for-6 drought and vault the Wolverines to victory.
The Wolverines will be back in action Friday (Jan. 25), when they travel to Bloomington, Indiana, to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on FS1.
