Nov. 24, 2012
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) - Andre Hollins, a day after scoring 41 points, made three free throws with 0.4 seconds to play to give Minnesota a 66-63 victory over Stanford on Saturday in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Hollins' 41-point effort came against No. 19/17 Memphis. He only had eight points against Stanford but the last three were the winners.
The game was tied at 63-63 and Minnesota was inbounding the ball from under its own basket. After an inbounds pass, the ball was tipped away by Stanford's Dwight Powell, who saved it as he was falling out of bounds near midcourt. Hollins calmly corralled the loose ball and dribbled to midcourt where he launched a shot and was hit on the right arm by Stanford's Chasson Randle.
As Randle crouched in front of his bench holding his head as teammates patted him, the officials went to the monitor to see if the foul happened after time expired. They put 0.4 seconds back on the clock and Hollins made all three free throws.
A long pass by Andy Brown was knocked away by Minnesota and the buzzer sounded.
Hollins, who came within one point of the school record Friday, struggled Saturday, making one of eight from the field but he was 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
Trevor Mbakwe had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Gophers (6-1), who lost to No. 5 Duke in the opening round. Rodney Williams added 12 points for Minnesota, which went 26 of 35 from the line.
Powell led Stanford (4-3) with 22 points, including a stretch late in the second half when he scored 10 straight. Powell tied it at 63 with two free throws with 14.8 seconds left after he was fouled as he drove to the basket.
Powell scored 18 of the Cardinal's final 23 points in the game.
Randle, who has been struggling with his shooting this season, finished 3-19 from the field, including 2-9 from 3-point range.
Saturday's contest represented a rematch of last year's Postseason NIT championship game, which Stanford won 75-51.
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NOTES: The game featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes ... Stanford shot 35.6 percent overall, making 6-19 from three-point territory and 15-19 from the foul line. The Cardinal also forced 18 turnovers ... Minnesota cashed in at the charity stripe, knocking down 26-35 (74.3 percent) as Stanford was whistled for 22 fouls ... Dwight Powell registered his third career 20-point game, connecting on 7-11 from the field in 28 minutes ... Robbie Lemons added a career-high nine points on 4-5 shooting, completing an impressive three-game stretch in which he averaged 6.3 points while filling in for regular starter Aaron Bright (sprained ankle) ... After knocking down only two three-pointers over his first four games, John Gage has connected on six triples during the last three contests ... Dwight Powell has made 17 consecutive free throws, a streak that dates back to Nov. 18 against Belmont ... Stanford and Minnesota were tied 32-32 at halftime, representing the second straight day the Cardinal and its opponent were even at intermission. Stanford and Northern Iowa were tied 30-30 after one period yesterday ... For the first time since 2009, Stanford has dropped three games in November ... Next up for Stanford is a three-game homestand, featuring contests against Seattle (Nov. 28), Denver (Dec. 2) and UC Davis (Dec. 15).
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QUOTES
Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
"I thought both teams played their hearts out. I think both played 40 minutes of hard-fought basketball. You have to give them credit for making that final play. It is a tough loss to swallow but we have to bounce back. I think we learned a lot about our group today and our entire tournament."
"It is difficult for any young man to be involved in a play like that. It is one of the most difficult plays to live with. He has to understand and I was trying to explain to him, the game is never decided the last play. That is just fiction. That play did not decide the game for us. There were several other times we fouled jump shooters. I think he was emotionally excited and in a heated game, the young man wanted to make a play and unfortunately he got a little too close to the shooter."
"Trevor [Mbakwe] was impressive. He had a presence on the floor. He rebounded well and scored around the basket. I think that he is going to give them an add dimension that they may have been missing last year."
Junior Dwight Powell
"As a team, we had attack mindset. Look for each other on openings and try to finish strong. Trevor [Mbakwe] is a good player and a strong guy. He is an aggressive rebounder."
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
"We have had a great experience being here at the Battle 4 Atlantis. It has been a very competitive tournament. It was good to get two wins out of this. I hope it will give us some confidence moving forward."
"Stanford is a heck of a team and they beat us last year in the NIT. Johnny Dawkins does a fantastic job and it seemed like a Big Ten game out there, the way we were banging and that's the way it has been. We had some clutch plays, made some great stops and they did, too. It was a big play there and I was hollering at Dre (Andre Hollins) to shoot it on that last play because you never know - it might go in or you might get fouled. And obviously he got fouled."
"I am impressed they have accepted the challenge and really attacked the basket. It helps when we have an inside player like Trevor and Rodney that can attack the basket - that helps a lot because they can draw a lot of fouls inside. I was impressed with Maverick [Ahanmisi], he kept us in the ballgame with two excellent fakes and shots. We played with our head and our heart today and that was one thing that has been encouraging."
"Trevor [Mbakwe] has great energy and toughness. He is showing a lot of stamina and overcoming the injuries he had. He does give us a big lift. I have been impressed with how he has gotten better - shooting percentages, his free throw shooting and it has been very helpful to help win these two games."
"It is good to have a bench. That was a problem last year - we had a very short bench. You have to have other players who can contribute and we certainly got that today."