Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I really can’t stop watching Dawson Garcia’s game-winner for Minnesota.
In today’s SI:AM:
🤯 Minnesota’s buzzer beater
⏱️ Clock ticking on Allen and Jackson
☄️ Billy Wagner’s Hall of Fame case
March is creeping closer
Thursday night’s slate of big-time men’s college basketball was light—but it was eventful. Only three teams ranked in the AP Top 25 were in action Thursday. All three were playing on the road, and all three got upset.
The most notable result was the No. 16 Gonzaga Bulldogs falling to the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis. Gonzaga started the season with a bang after a 101–63 blowout win over the No. 8 Baylor Bears but is lacking in other quality wins. The Bulldogs are 2–5 in Quad 1 games, with the only other victory coming Nov. 18 on the road against the San Diego State Aztecs. They had a tough five-game stretch in December during which they lost to the Kentucky Wildcats, UConn Huskies and UCLA Bruins.
The Oregon State loss is Gonzaga’s worst of the season thus far. Statistically speaking, the Beavers aren’t terrible (top 50 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency), but they’re severely lacking in quality wins. They entered the game 2–5 against teams in Quads 1, 2 and 3, having played a soft schedule that saw them go 10–0 against Quad 4 squads. But they rose to the occasion in front of a sold-out crowd Thursday night.
The game was a thriller that featured 14 lead changes and went to overtime after Gonzaga’s Graham Ike hit a three-pointer to tie the game with four seconds left in regulation. It was just the 18th three-point shot Ike had made in 99 career games.
Graham Ike for the tie right when @ZagMBB needed it 🤯#WCChoops x @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/fdMVGoUdof
— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) January 17, 2025
Oregon State dominated the overtime period, though, outscoring Gonzaga 14–6. The Bulldogs scored only two points in the final 3:38. Overall, it was one of Gonzaga’s worst offensive performances of the season. Ike was brilliant with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, but Ryan Nembhard was 3-for-10 from the floor and Khalif Battle made just four of his 13 shots (including one of seven three-pointers). As a team, the Bulldogs hit 41.7% of their shots, their second-worst shooting percentage in a game this season.
Earlier in the night, the No. 18 Memphis Tigers dropped their first AAC game to the Temple Owls, 88–81. Fifth-year transfer Jamal Mashburn Jr. (the son of the former NBA player) led the way for Temple with 21 points, and sophomore Quante Berry added another 19. Temple is in its second season under head coach Adam Fisher, a former Penn State assistant. The Owls went 16–20 last season and were rocked by a point-shaving scandal before engineering a surprise run to the championship game of the AAC tournament. They’re off to an 11–6 start this season, including 3–1 in conference play.
The loss is one of few blemishes on Memphis’s résumé. The Tigers boast three top-25 wins this season (over UConn in Maui, on the road against the Clemson Tigers and at home against the Ole Miss Rebels) and have played the sixth-hardest schedule in the nation. They’re now 13–4 on the season. Two of the losses came against top-flight SEC teams (Auburn Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs), but the other loss is a bit of a headscratcher—an 85–72 loss at home to the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
The most highlight-worthy game of the night was the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ 84–81 overtime win over the No. 20 Michigan Wolverines. Michigan and Minnesota had started Big Ten play on divergent paths. Michigan won its first five conference games, including a pair on the road against the Big Ten’s new Southern California members (USC and UCLA) earlier this month. Minnesota, meanwhile, had dropped its first six conference games. But the Gophers can thank fifth-year senior forward Dawson Garcia for snapping that losing streak.
Garcia was brilliant against the Wolverines, putting up 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. It was his fifth double double of the season. It was only fitting, then, that it was Garcia who won the game for Minnesota. With the score tied at the end of the overtime period, he called for the ball and buried a shot from a few feet inside the half-court line as the buzzer sounded.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! 🤯
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 17, 2025
MINNESOTA WINS AT THE BUZZER! 🚨 @GopherMBB pic.twitter.com/PlU0XVu0cV
“I was going to try to get to the cup, but he wanted it,” point guard Lu’Cye Patterson said. “I lined it up for him. I kind of put the ball in the right place for his hands and he hit it. I trust him like he’s my brother.”
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Our MMQB staff quickly previewed every game on the docket for the NFL’s divisional round.
- The biggest game of the weekend is Bills vs. Ravens, which, as Matt Verderame explains, is all about the ticking clock on Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson’s pursuit of a Super Bowl.
- With Billy Wagner in his final year on the Hall of Fame ballot, Tom Verducci explains why his ability to force batters to whiff should earn him a spot in Cooperstown.
- Jimmy Traina weighed in on the story that has had social media buzzing all week: Barstool Sports personality Dan “Big Cat” Katz’s revelation about his sports fandom.
- Next month’s PGA Tour event originally scheduled for the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles will be relocated due to the wildfires. Bob Hargig has more on the decision to move the tournament.
- Harig also has an update on Augusta National’s recovery from Hurricane Helene ahead of this year’s Masters.
- Doug Vazquez spoke with Islam Makhachev ahead of his UFC 311 fight this weekend against Arman Tsarukyan.
- The Dolphins will play in the NFL’s first game played in Spain.
- Jack Del Rio has a new head-coaching job. In France.
The top five …
… things I saw last night:
5. Jeff Green’s one-handed dunk. We’ve talked a lot about how LeBron James is still playing at age 40, but don’t sleep on 38-year-old Jeff Green. He started his career with the Seattle SuperSonics!
4. Nathan MacKinnon’s stickhandling that left Evan Bouchard in the spin cycle.
3. Temple guard Shane Dezonie’s dunk over two defenders.
2. Alex Ovechkin’s overtime winner for the Capitals. He’s 21 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky.
1. Nick Martinelli’s buzzer beater for Northwestern to beat Maryland.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | A Night of College Hoops Upsets.
