Minnesota loses 75-67 in OT to Rutgers, earns No. 12 seed in Big Ten Tournament
Dylan Harper scored 22 points, including six in overtime, and Rutgers defeated Minnesota 75-67 on Sunday to claim an important win in seeding for the Big Ten Tournament.
The victory lifted Rutgers (15-16, 8-12 Big Ten) into 11th place and left Minnesota (15-16, 7-13) in a five-way tie for 12th as the regular-season concluded. Tiebreakers gave Minnesota the 12th seed, followed by Northwestern, USC and Iowa. Nebraska, the fifth 7-13 team, missed out on the 15-team tournament. Rutgers plays USC and Minnesota plays Northwestern in first-round games on Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Scarlet Knights dominated overtime, building a 71-63 lead with one minute to go. Harper led the 10-2 charge with two layups and a couple of free throws.
Dawson Garcia scored 19 points and Lu'Cye Patterson 12 for Minnesota, Off the bench, Frank Mitchell added his second straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Dylan Grant had 12 points for Rutgers.
Grant hit a jumper and Harper added a jumper and a 3-pointer to give Rutgers a 33-25 lead with four minutes left in the first half. The Scarlet Knights went on to lead 38-29 at halftime.
Minnesota battled back in the second half and a 10-0 run gave the Golden Gophers a 49-46 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in regulation. There were six ties and five lead changes through the remainder of regulation, the last tie coming when Minnesota's Garcia hit a jumper with eight seconds left.