MINNEAPOLIS _ Minnesota knew what was at stake for it on Senior Night _ the best win on its NCAA Tournament resume. It also knew Purdue was playing for a chance to win a share of the Big Ten title.
It wasn't just a case of which team wanted it more. Clearly, Minnesota's seniors wanted to win badly in their last Big Ten game at home. It came down to whether or not they could play well enough for 40 minutes to pull off the upset.
After leading by as much as 12 points in the first half, the Gophers fought off a late rally by No. 11 Purdue in a 73-69 win Tuesday that saw the fans storm the court at Williams Arena.
The biggest ovation before the game was for Jordan Murphy, who will finish his career as the school's all-time leading rebounder and No. 2 in Big Ten history. The senior captain would likely give up some individual accolades to reach the NCAA tourney one last time.
Murphy finished with 13 point and 14 rebounds. Amir Coffey tied his career-high with 32 points on 13 of 18 free throws for Minnesota, which can likely solidify an at-large bid Friday at Maryland.
"Thank you for these four years," Murphy said after the game to the crowd. "See you in the tournament."
Entering Tuesday's game, the Gophers (19-10, 9-10) were on the bubble and hadn't picked up a Quadrant 1 win since early January at Wisconsin. In fact, Minnesota had lost seven straight games considered in the highest quality category by the tournament selection committee. The opportunities were running out.
That's why Richard Pitino's team was clearly playing with a sense of urgency when it jumped out to a 37-25 lead after Coffey's seventh straight point late in the first half. Coffey, who had 31 points and 12 rebounds in last week's win at Northwestern, had 14 points to lead Minnesota to a 37-27 halftime advantage.
The Boilermakers (22-8, 15-4) needed victories in their last two games to earn the Big Ten title outright over Michigan State and Michigan. They had won 13 of their last 14 games, including five in a row before coming to Minneapolis. You could argue that Matt Painter was a shoe-in for Big Ten coach of the year, while Carsen Edwards was the league's best player.
Still, Pitino had a squad desperate to get to the program's first NCAA tourney since 2017.
In the second half, Purdue showed why its championship grit by using a 9-0 run to tie the game 54-54 on Nojel Eastern's free throw with 8:34 left to play. The Gophers, who had 14 turnovers Tuesday, also displayed why they blew a 13-point lead in a 10-point loss Feb. 3 in West Lafayette, Ind.
After Coffey and McBrayer missed back-to-back layups, Matz Stockman stole a pass at midcourt and was fouled in transition to give Minnesota a 57-54 lead. Chants of "MVP, MVP" came from the Gophers faithful for the 7-foot senior who played extended minutes with backup center Eric Curry out for the season with a right foot injury.
A minute later, Gabe Kalscheur's 3-pointer and Stockman's dunk highlighted a 10-1 run for the Gophers, who took a 64-55 lead on Coffey's layup with 3:46 to play.
The Gophers appeared on the verge of pulling away, but Ryan Cline hit back-to-back 3-pointers to keep Purdue within striking distance. Even Coffey's and McBrayer's four straight free throws to go up 68-61 at the two-minute mark wasn't enough of a cushion in the end.
Like so many close games this season, Pitino and his players had to sweat out another last-second situation.
Edwards, who had 22 points, nailed a 3-pointer to cut it to 71-69. With 3.9 seconds left, the Gophers struggled on the inbounds play when the ball nearly hit Coffey's leg out of bounds. After the review, officials gave Minnesota the possession to seal it with Coffey's two free throws.
