Box Score The University of Minnesota men's basketball team edged out a 64-63 win over Georgia Tech today at Williams Arena. With a two-point basket from R ick Rickert in the final 10 seconds of play, the No. 17/20 Golden Gophers captured a win over the Yellow Jackets (3-1), bringing their record to 3-0.
With 26 seconds left in the game, Minnesota trailed by one after Georgia Tech's Chris Bosh completed a fast break point to bring the score to 63-62. After a Minnesota 30-second timeout, Rickert worked his way under the basket where he hit a game-winning jumper to give the Gophers a 64-63 lead and eventual win.
Georgia Tech opened up a 49-42 lead midway through the second half. But, Minnesota responded with an 18-4 run to take a 60-53 lead with three minutes left. The Yellow Jackets were able to get back into the lead with a 10-2 run and 26-seconds remaining. Rickert was then able to knock-in the game-winning basket with nine seconds remaining in the game.
In the first half, the Golden Gophers were outscored 29-27 despite 12 points and four rebounds from J erry Holman. Minnesota started out the half with a 10-2 run, but finished down by two after a 8-4 run by Georgia Tech in the final three minutes of the half.
The leading scorer for Minnesota was J erry Holman with 21, seven rebounds and three blocks. This marked the second-best performance of Holman's career. M aurice Hargrow and Rickert also scored in double figures with 10 and 17 respectively. For Georgia Tech, Ed Nelson led the way with 17 points and Chris Bosh was right behind with 16 and 12 rebounds.
Minnesota is 3-1 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge while Georgia Tech is 1-3. The Maroon and Gold have gone 33-8 in non-conference games under Dan Monson while going 27-3 in home non-conference action under Monson.
Next up for Minnesota is Bethune Cookman on Friday, December 6, at 7 p.m. at Williams Arena.
Post-Game Notes Minnesota is 2-1 all-time against Georgia Tech. This was the first meeting since the 1990 NCAA Southeast Regional Final...Minnesota is 3-1 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Georgia Tech is 1-3 in the Challenge...Minnesota is 33-8 in non-conference games under Dan Monson. The Gophers are 27-3 in home non-conference action under Monson...Minnesota is 14-18 against the ACC all-time (including vacated games)...Minnesota is 15-9 in games decided by five points or less under Dan Monson...J erry Holman scored in double figures for the first time this season and the 13th time in his career...Holman's 21-point performance is the second-best of his career and best in the regular season. He scored 22 against New Mexico in the NIT First Round last year...Minnesota is 11-2 when Holman scores in double figures...Holman recorded three blocks, marking the seventh time in his career that he has blocked three shots or more...Ke vin Burleson moved into fourth all-time at Minnesota with 302 career assists. Melvin Newbern is third with 369 assists...Burleson had 10 assists, which ranks in a tie for 10th-most in a game at Minnesota. Burleson had 11 against UNC Asheville on 11/21/01...R ick Rickert scored in double figures for the 25th time in 34 games as a Golden Gopher. He has reached double figures in eight straight games dating back to last season...M aurice Hargrow reached double figure scoring for the third straight game...Hargrow played a career-high 36 minutes...Chris Bosh's 12 rebounds are the most by an opposing player since Feb. 9, 2002 when Reggie Evans grabbed 16 for Iowa.
POST-GAME QUOTES Paul Hewitt - Head Coach for Georgia Tech "It was an exciting basketball game, just not a real efficient one. Both teams turned the ball over a lot. Dan [Monson] should be pleases with his team's effort. The storyline of tonight was [Jerry] Holman. He did a tremendous job. We picked to concentrate on shutting down [Rick] Rickert and [Mike] Bauer. We thought if we could hold those two guys down, it would give us a chance to win. And it did. We just couldn't get that last shot to go down."
"We had a couple things set up [on the last play]. We wanted to drive the middle and maybe force the officials to make a call. But they did a nice job defensively on that play. They forced us to try different things. The try at the end there was our last resort. We just got beat by better defense. We had a one-point lead with 20 seconds to go. I thought there was good officiating. We had a chance to win the game."
"All the turnovers were not surprising. We try to press a lot, so turnovers are expected. But look at us - we have a freshman point guard [Jarrett Jack] on the road for the first time, in a hostile environment. He'll learn from this game. He'll grow. But I have to give them credit. They made the plays.
"It was a tough, hard-fought game. Now we have to go back and prepare for finals. There are over 600 teams competing right now while preparing for finals. I hope people don't overlook the fact that we have all these teams competing and playing while preparing for finals. These are hard-working student-athletes. I think people need to realize that."
Dan Monson - Head Coach for Minnesota "What I'm going to say is similar to Saturday in that we still have a lot to work on. We're not fooled that we're ready for Big Ten play. We need to measure by improvement, not by wins and losses. We are handling the pressure better. This is the second game where it came down to doing something better than what we normally do, and that was scoring. This team has a lot of offensive weapons. Our rebounding early was not acceptable, and yet down stretch we got the big rebounds we needed."
"This is a new team with new players. Last year we lost some close games at the end. This year, we've won two. Our rally cry going into both of the last two games has been, we don't know who's going to win, but we're going to figure that out."
Minnesota Forward Rick Rickert "On the last series I saw the time was winding down and I knew that I was going to get the ball and that I had to put it in and then we would have to get a defensive stop and fortunately, we were able to get both of those. This was a game that we probably should not have won, but we held on and found a way to get the win."
Minnesota Guard Kevin Burleson "We really stuck together as a team. On the bench we stayed focused, and there was no doubt in our minds that we were going to win. The coaches at the end were very confidant that we would score and so were we. I was just fortunate to get a hand on the ball on their final series, and was glad that that final shot didn't go in."
Minnesota Center Jerry Holman "I feel more confident after having a year of experience under my belt, and I believe this team will continue to get better. We have a group of great players. Someone new has stepped up every night. I believe these tight games have helped us out, and will help us even more down the road. The key tonight was that we kept our composure and focused down the stretch, even after we got behind."
Minnesota Guard Moe Hargrow "We can't continue to get into these nail-biters. But it's important that we won in these past two games. These games will help us to get better as a team."
