WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. _ The Gophers had their hottest shooting start of the season, making their first eight shots of the game Sunday to take a 13-point first-half lead at Purdue, but it was how they finally learned to finish that mattered most.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino watched nervously from the crowd as the No. 15 Boilermakers threatened to escape the upset, but his son Richard Pitino eventually pulled off his biggest victory as Minnesota's basketball coach, 91-82 in overtime Sunday.
Nate Mason had a career-high 31 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for the Gophers (13-2, 1-1), who won in West Lafayette for the first time since 2005. Caleb Swanigan had 28 points and 22 rebounds for the Boilermakers (12-3, 1-1), who suffered only their third loss at Mackey Arena in the last 34 games.
Eric Curry scored seven of his 10 points in overtime to spark an 11-0 run that sealed Minnesota's first Big Ten win this season and first conference road win since the 2014-15 season.
The Gophers were emotionally drained earlier in the week after blowing a 14-point second-half lead in Tuesday's 75-74 overtime loss against Michigan State at home. The Spartans seemed vulnerable, but their veterans outplayed Minnesota down the stretch.
That was a wakeup call for Richard Pitino's team going into its first conference road game. Nobody gave the Gophers a chance as 15-point underdogs, especially after Purdue won 89-67 at home vs. Iowa Wednesday.
Pitino was previously 4-23 in Big Ten road games, including 0-9 last season. His last road win in the conference before Sunday was winning at No. 25 Michigan State in 2015. That was the program's first victory in East Lansing since the Final Four season in 1996-97.
Sunday's victory was even bigger, though.
After squandering their lead in the second half, the Gophers fought back to take a 73-71 lead with 1:27 left in regulation.
Ryan Cline and Amir Coffey traded three-pointers to keep it tied at 71-71, but Dupree McBrayer's high-arching shot off the glass gave Minnesota the late lead.
Jordan Murphy, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds, fouled out for Minnesota with 4:03 left in the game. Bakary Konate also fouled out trying to defend Swanigan.
Swanigan tied the game 73-73 with 4.4 seconds left after backing down Reggie Lynch to finish off the glass.
The Gophers had a chance to set up a game-winning after a timeout with 4.4 seconds left. They missed two game-winning shots in regulation and overtime in Tuesday's 75-74 overtime loss against Michigan State at home.
Mason and Coffey had shots fall short off isolation plays in the Big Ten opening loss to the Spartans. On Sunday, Pitino drew up a play to get McBrayer a good look, but it still he couldn't connect at the buzzer.
But the Gophers found a way this time to overcome not being able to close the game in regulation.
The Boilermakers entered Sunday as the Big Ten's top shooting team, leading the conference in field goal percentage (49.8) and three-point shooting percentage (41.4). But they were just 12-for-29 (41.4 percent) from the field in the first half, including 3-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Mason's floater at 15:25 gave Minnesota a 17-4 lead to open the game on 8-for-8 shooting. Purdue started 1-for-7 from the field.
The Gophers would lead 19-6 on a Lynch layup at 13:57, but the Boilermakers would cut it down to a four-point deficit.
McBrayer's transition dunk on a pass from Mason made it 29-19 with six minutes remaining in the first half, but Vincent Edwards' second three-pointer capped a 16-7 run to make it a one-point game just before halftime.
In the second half, Minnesota got off to a completely different start shooting 1-for-13 during a 4:39 stretch. Carsen Edwards gave the Boilermakers their first lead of the game on a three-pointer to make it 45-43 at 16:23.
