Bobby Durkin had missed five 3-pointers already Monday night, and Minnesota still kept feeding him the ball in the biggest moment of the game.
That trust paid off in the final second at Fifth Third Arena, where Durkin buried a wing 3 with 0.4 seconds left to lift the Gophers to a 63-61 win over Cincinnati. Minnesota finished the game on a 9-0 run and opened what is being billed as the toughest nonconference schedule in seven years with a road win over a Big 12 opponent.
The finish came after a tense sequence in the closing seconds. Minnesota trailed 61-60 with 6.8 seconds left when Isaac Asuma missed the front end of a one-on-one.
The Gophers got another possession after a Cincinnati missed free throw, and Asuma found Durkin on the wing. Durkin let it fly immediately and watched it go down.
“Isaac made a great pass to Bobby and he didn’t hesitate,” Gophers head coach Niko Medved said. “We knew on a missed free throw we just want to go, not trying to run any (play).
The guys knew the situation. We didn’t have to have a three necessarily, but Bobby knew he had to let it go.
… It was so great to see that nothing but net.”
Durkin’s final line wasn’t pretty: five points on 2 of 7 shooting, including 1 of 6 from deep. But the shot that mattered most was the one that ended it.
“Obviously I didn’t think I was playing my best (Monday), so I was just happy to pull through for the team,” Durkin said on ESPN.
Minnesota improved to 3-0, and the result figures to move the Gophers up from their No. 43 KenPom spot. Cincinnati entered at 2-1, picked to finish eighth in the 16-team Big 12 and ranked 31st in the latest KenPom.
The Gophers are taking aim at the NCAA tournament, and this schedule is built for that push. Minnesota lined up five high-major nonconference games this season, the most since the U played six in 2019-20.
Kyan Evans carried the offense for long stretches and posted a career-high 26 points on 11 of 19 shooting. He added 10 rebounds and five assists, though he also turned it over seven times. Tylen Riley matched him for Cincinnati with 25 points.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson battled foul trouble all night. He picked up his fourth with 12 minutes left and his fifth with 1:35 to go, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds.
Minnesota also had to dig out of a first-half hole. The Gophers trailed 30-23 with four minutes left before closing the half on a 7-0 burst to tie it 30-30.
Evans had 16 points before halftime, after totaling just 12 points across Minnesota’s first two games against North Dakota and St. Thomas.
In Other News...
Minnesota Just Landed The Kind Of Win Its NCAA Case Needed
Minnesotas early-season resume got a meaningful boost in a tight 63-61 win over Cincinnati, a game that had the feel of a November grinder from the opening tip. Kyan Evans carried the Gophers offensively with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Minnesota found enough second chances on the glass to offset a Cincinnati defense that forced 17 turnovers and kept the pressure on throughout.
The finish was the kind that can matter long after the box score fades, because this was the sort of non-conference test Minnesota needed to survive rather than simply play. Bobby Durkin delivered the decisive shot in the final seconds, with Isaac Asuma helping set up the closing possession, and the Gophers left with a 3-0 record and a win that should travel well when the NCAA conversation starts to sharpen later in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Minnesota Just Got A Brutal Reality Check In The CFP Race
Week 10s ranked-vs.-ranked chaos did Minnesota no favors in the wider College Football Playoff picture, and the Gophers are now watching the bracket conversation from an increasingly uncomfortable distance. Across seven major matchups, the weekend helped clarify which contenders still have a path, which ones can afford a stumble and which teams have already put themselves in position to survive the committees scrutiny.
For Minnesota, the sting is less about one result than the way the board has shifted around it. The expanded playoff coming next season would change the math for plenty of programs, but this years race is still unforgiving, and every outcome involving the sports top-ranked teams tightens the margin for anyone trying to break through. The Gophers can keep score from here, but the latest round of results made their climb look even steeper. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Face A Brutal Test As Momentum Starts To Slip
Minnesotas latest setback came in painful fashion, with UCLA slipping away on two late touchdown passes and handing the Gophers their second straight loss to a top-five opponent. The timing makes the defeat sting even more, because the season still has a clear checkpoint ahead and the margin for error is shrinking as the schedule tightens.
The next step is a daunting one against Penn State, and Minnesota is trying to steady itself while dealing with injuries up front on defense. At 5-4, the Gophers are still in position to reach bowl eligibility, but the recent slide has made the path feel much less comfortable than it did a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]