Gophers coach Ben Johnson trusted that if he put the ball in the hands of his best player Saturday he would live with the result — and Dawson Garcia delivered to lead his team to a much-needed victory.
For the third straight game, the Gophers trailed at halftime, but Garcia’s four throws in the last 18.7 seconds sealed the 59-56 win against Yale at Williams Arena.
The Gophers (3-1) were atrocious offensively in the first half of Wednesday’s 54-51 loss against North Texas with 14 first-half points. They weren’t much better Saturday, down 29-19 at halftime against Yale, which held them to 29.6% shooting, including 1-for-10 from three-point range.
Entering Saturday, Garcia was leading the Big Ten in scoring with 26 points per game, but he was 2-for-8 shooting in the first half Saturday. The 6-11 senior wasn’t slowed down for long, scoring 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half.
The Gophers were outscored 23-4 after taking the first lead of the game. They never regained the advantage until going on a 20-9 run in the second half, including a 7-0 run capped by a jumper from Femi Odukale to make it 39-38. That was the first lead since early in the first half.
Yale (2-3) pulled within 54-53 after a three-pointer from John Poulakidas with 2:30 to play, but the Gophers hit five of six free throws to keep from suffering their second straight defeat.
The Gophers entered Saturday’s game with the worst scoring offense in the Big Ten at 66.3 points per game. They also ranked second-to-last in free throw percentage at 60%, which can make it hard to win close games.
One of only a few Big Ten teams without at least two players scoring in double figures on average, the Gophers needed to find another consistent scorer other than Garcia. Brennan Rigsby had his best game with the Gophers with 15 points and six rebounds. Patterson scored seven points, but he led the team with six assists.
