Gophers stun No. 20 Michigan on Dawson Garcia buzzer-beating bomb

Minnesota welcomed No. 20 Michigan to the Barn on Thursday night and put together arguably its best performance off the season. It all culminated with a buzzer-beating bomb from Dawson Garcia. The Gophers knocked off the Wolverines 84-81, as Ben Johnson earned his first win over a ranked opponent as a head coach.

The Gophers entered the matchup as the conference's only winless team, but they opted to not make a change to the starting lineup. They were able to keep up with Michigan for much of the first half until the last four minutes before the break.

Led by 11 first-half points from Stewartville, Minn. native Will Tschetter, Michigan's 7-13 shooting from beyond the arc resulted in a 49-41 halftime deficit for the Gophers. Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell Jr. both scored nine first-half points.

Minnesota continued to show some fight throughout the second half and some confident play from Lu'Cye Patterson sparked a 10-0 run, which tied the game at 51 midway through the second half. The Williams Arena crowd was ignited for seemingly the first time this season.

Right when it looked like Michigan was going to pull away, the Gophers answered with a pivotal 6-0 run, taking a 62-61 lead with 4:05 to go. Thanks to a huge night from Patterson, everything looked to finally click for Minnesota. Much like the Ohio State game earlier this month, a few late-game decisions helped Michigan get back into the game and force overtime.

Right when it looked like Minnesota could be looking at a second overtime and potentially another crushing loss, Garcia pulled a rabbit out of his hat and nailed one of the craziest buzzer-beating shots you will ever see. The Gophers stunned Michigan 84-81.

WHAT A SHOT!#Gophers storm the court after Dawson Garcia stuns No. 20 Michigan. pic.twitter.com/CmT4rL2Ak7
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) January 17, 2025

Garcia led the team with 27 points, while Patterson had a season-high 22 points and Mike Mitchell Jr. added 20. It was all-around the most complete performance of the season for the Gophers and exactly what Johnson could've hoped to see from this team in the preseason.

After earning their first Big Ten win of the season, Minnesota is now 9-10 on the season and 1-6 in conference play. Johnson was 0-15 against ranked opponents heading into the Thursday night. Things will not get easier as they now look ahead to a road game next Tuesday against Iowa — a team that Minnesota has never beaten in Ben Johnson's four years as head coach.

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