NEW YORK _ It started as a statement to show Gophers basketball had definitely arrived as one of the nation's elite teams, but it ended as one of the most bizarre games perhaps in NCAA history.
After a skirmish between Minnesota and Alabama midway through the second half, the Crimson Tide had their entire bench ejected from the game after leaving the sideline.
That left Alabama coach Avery Johnson with only five players, but it got even worse. After a player fouled out and another left with an injury. It was three vs. five. Yes, you heard that right: three players on the court. That's all.
And Minnesota still nearly got upset.
The No. 14-ranked Gophers saw a 17-point second half lead cut to three with under two minutes left, but managed to pull out a 89-84 victory Saturday in the Barclays Center Classic.
Freshman star Collin Sexton sliced his way layup with 1:48 to cut it to 83-80. That gave him 38 of his 40 points, which gave him the edge in the matchup with Minnesota's point guard Nate Mason.
Mason led the Gophers (7-0) with 20 points, but he didn't play the last 14 minutes of the second half after an ejection. Jordan Murphy had all 19 of his points in the first half, to go with 14 rebounds.
Mason and Sexton were charged with double technical fouls for chirping at each other at the 14:06 mark. Mason wouldn't stop talking as he walked toward midcourt _ and he was given his second technical and ejected from the game. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino, who had his Hall of Fame father in the crowd, was T'd up as well for arguing the call.
That's when everything went crazy for the Gophers, who went from a 54-37 lead after Dupree McBrayer's 3-pointer at 16:36 to a 57-50 advantage after Riley Norris' 3-pointer four minutes later.
After the basket, McBrayer was approached by an Alabama player and started to defend himself from a blow. The Tide bench cleared and officials had to separate both teams. But Alabama's bench was thrown out of the game for leaving their seats.
Johnson's team lost another player when Dazon Ingram fouled out holding Reggie Lynch on a defensive rebound at 11:37. Lynch's two free throws made it 63-52.
The Gophers seemed to have an unfair advantage when John Petty suffered an apparent right leg injury coming down on Davonte Fitzgerald's foot after a 3-point attempt. Petty had to be helped to the locker room. But that ignited Sexton.
Amir Coffey, who had 12 points, scored on a layup for a 74-60 lead at 7:52. Sexton scored 17 points after the skirmish, including three 3-pointers in the last six minutes. Pitino was hollering at his players to defend him. After all, they had the numbers, but it almost didn't matter.
The game was televised only on Facebook, but fans for both teams were glued to the football rivalry games going on at the same time anyway. Alabama lost to Auburn. And the Gophers lost Wisconsin.
But at least Minnesota escaped a potential embarrassing defeat.
