University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
3-0,0-0Big Ten
Cincinnati
2-1,0-0Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 30 | 33 | 63 |
| Cincinnati | 30 | 31 | 61 |
11/9/2026 8:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bobby Durkin's last-second 3-pointer gave Minnesota (3-0) a 63-61 win at Cincinnati (2-1), as the Gophers ended the game with a 9-0 run and stunned a crowd of 10,419 at Fifth Third Arena.
Minnesota had trailed 61-54 with 2:37 remaining, but Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Kyan Evans, and Isaac Asuma each scored on layups to trim the Bearcats' lead to a single point with :14.5 left. In that remaining time, Cincinnati missed two front-ends of 1-and-1 situations and Minnesota also missed a 1-and-1 opportunity.
On UC's second missed FT opportunity, Asuma came up with the rebound, dribbled ahead, and passed to Durkin, who drained the game-winner from approximately 25 feet, silencing the Bearcats faithful who saw UC held scoreless over the final 2:37.
It was Minnesota's first game-winning shot with less than a second remaining since Dawson Garcia's 3-pointer from the edge of the midcourt logo beat No. 20/21 Michigan, 84-81, on Jan. 16, 2025. It also was the first time the Gophers scored the final nine or more points in a win since tallying the final 12 points to knock off Northwestern, 51-46, at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis on March 10, 2021.
Evans had the best game of his career, leading the Gophers with career-highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds and adding a team-best 5 assists and a steal in 39 minutes. He was 11 of 19 overall and 3 of 8 from 3-point range. His previous highs had been 23 points in a win versus Memphis in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament and 6 rebounds on four occasions.
Crocker-Johnson finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds before fouling out with 1:35 left, and Asuma had 10 points and 7 rebounds. Grayson Grove added 7 points and 3 boards, and Durkin ended the night with 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. As a team, Minnesota made 24 of 56 (.429) field goals, including 8 of 25 (.320) 3-pointers, and 7 of 11 (.636) free throws, while finishing with a 40-28 advantage in rebounds.
Cincinnati made 23 of 56 (.411) field goals, including 7 of 29 (.241) 3-point attempts, and 8 of 12 free throws. Tylen Riley led the Bearcats with 25 points and 6 of 9 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Tyler Tejada added 10 points, MJ Collins Jr. and Adlan Elamin added 6 points each, and Myles Colvin finished with 5 points and 5 rebounds.
Minnesota jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 10-5, with Crocker-Johnson opening the scoring with a 3-pointer from the corner and Evans scoring the next seven for the Gophers. The Bearcats cut Minnesota's lead to 10-9, but the Gophers responded with a 6-0 run for a 16-9 lead with 13:30 left until the half.
Cincinnati layups from Collins and Elamin trimmed the lead to 16-13, but Malachi Palmer made a pair of free throws to make it a five-point lead with 11:58 remaining. A 5-2 Bearcats run tied the score at the 8:40 mark.
Asuma knocked down a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound to make it 23-20, but Riley's third trey of the half started a 10-0 run over the next four minutes, as Asuma's 3-pointer was the lone field goal in a 1 of 12 stretch.
Evans finally ended the drought with a 3-pointer for Minnesota's first points in almost five minutes. Grove added a dunk on a back-cut, with a great assist by Evans, and Evans scored on a floater in the lane to make it a 7-0 run and tie the score at the half.
Evans led all scorers with 16 points at the break, while also leading the Gophers with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Crocker-Johnson added 5 points, and Asuma had 3 points and 3 rebounds. As a team, Minnesota made 11 of 30 (.367) field goals, including 4 of 14 (.286) from 3-point range, and 4 of 6 free throws. The tie score at the half was the first for Minnesota since a 34-34 deadlock at No. 13 Illinois on Jan. 17.
The Bearcats were led by Riley's 9 first-half points on 3 of 5 3-pointers, with Tejada adding 8 points after going scoreless in UC's 81-64 win versus Green Bay. Cincinnati made 12 of 30 (.400) field goals, including 3 of 16 (.188) 3-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws. Minnesota had a 21-15 rebounding edge at the half.
A Crocker-Johnson layup and an Asuma corner 3-pointer from in front of the Gophers' bench put Minnesota up 35-32, but Riley splashed his fourth 3-point shot of the game to tie the score. A pair of Tejada free throws gave the Bearcats a 37-35 lead, but layups from Grove and Durkin put the Gophers back in the lead by a pair.
A personal 7-0 run by Riley gave the Bearcats some separation, as they built a 44-39 lead, and after Evans scored in the paint, UC extended the run to 12-2 for the largest lead of the game at 49-41 with 8:12 remaining.
Grove made a wide-open 3-pointer to cut the lead to five, and Asuma made two free throws followed by a Crocker-Johnson layup to trim the UC lead to 49-48 with 6:23 left.
The Bearcats extended the lead back to 54-49, but Evans scored on a layup and added a 3-pointer to surpass his former career-high for points and pull Minnesota within 56-54 at the 3:48 mark. But another 5-0 sport for UC gave the Bearcats a seven-point lead at 61-54 with 2:37 left.
Crocker-Johnson and Evans scored on layups, the latter with :52.7 left, to pull Minnesota within 61-58, and Cincinnati turned the ball over with :31.1 left. Asuma scored on a layup with :14.5 remaining, and he then fouled Colvin with 10 seconds left.
Colvin missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and then Asuma had a chance to tie or win the game with a 1-and-1 with :05.6 left, but he also missed the front end. The Gophers fouled Collins, who could have given the Bearcats a three-point lead, but he missed the shot and Asuma came up with the rebound, dribble ahead amd passed to Durkin who drained his only 3-pointer of the night with 0.4 left for the winning points.
Minnesota returns home for a pair of games, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. CST tipoff versus Southern on Thursday, Nov. 12, on B1G+.
