With just under four minutes left in the extra period, Garcia appeared to tie the ball up, but he was whistled for his fifth foul. The Gophers gave up six consecutive points in overtime. But Rigsby’s layup and dunk after a critical steal tied the score at 66-66 with 15 seconds to play.
Then, when the Gophers didn’t want to foul, Frank Mitchell was caught reaching after switching to defend Hill on a pick-and-roll. Even after Wichita State went ahead at the foul line, Gophers players leaped off the bench when Rigsby’s corner three attempt bounced four times around the rim before it missed.
“I felt like Brennan was going to make that shot,” senior guard Femi Odukale said. “I’ve seen him take tough shots like that, but we can’t hold our heads low for that.”
The Gophers were 3-for-23 from three-point range and shot just 9-for-17 on free throws, but they scored 18 points off turnovers.
“We also outrebounded them [38-34] and got into transition [16-2 in fast-break points], which is what we wanted to do,” Johnson said. “Now we’ve got to go back and look how do we better close the deal.”