Gophers earn national praise after shocking Michigan with buzzer-beater win

After starting 0-6 in Big Ten play, many fans gave up on the Gophers men's basketball team—but the team never gave up on itself. Thursday's win over No. 20 Michigan was evidence that the locker room remains united and ready to compete every time they step onto the court.

Minnesota’s stunning game-winning buzzer-beater from Dawson Garcia became the talk of college basketball on Thursday night. National college basketball showThe Field of 68 praised the Gophers’ resilience on their postgame show.

“It all starts with Dawson Garcia, and I am thrilled for him,” former Illinois player Mike LaTulip said. “He’s a guy who probably could’ve chased a bag elsewhere. He hasn’t won much over the last few years at Minnesota, could’ve gone somewhere else, but he stuck with it—and he gets a massive moment that he’s going to remember forever there at the Barn.”

Garcia’s 27 points and game-winning shot may have grabbed the headlines, but it’s clear that head coach Ben Johnson has kept every player and coach fully engaged. Maintaining buy-in after a slow start to conference play is challenging—especially in today’s world of modern college athletics.

“It’s also a credit to Coach Johnson. That’s clearly a team that’s been scrapping and fighting the entire way,” former Marquette star Jerel McNeal said. “It’s really easy, when things aren’t going well this time of year, to start digging yourself a bigger hole. Things go one of two ways: the locker room completely quits on you, with everyone thinking about the offseason, or you lock in, scrap, and fight for the guy next to you. I think you saw a lot of that tonight.”

From the coaching staff to the players, Minnesota has faced its fair share of criticism this season. As McNeal noted, it would have been easy to pack it in and focus on the future. But the Gophers, who have dug themselves quite a hole, clearly aren’t ready to give up on this season.