Robinson hurt as UM edges Gophers
1/3/2014MINNEAPOLIS — Jon Horford scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Michigan withstand another loss of one of its star players and beat Minnesota 63-60 on Thursday night.
Zak Irvin scored 15 points on five 3-pointers for the Wolverines (9-4, 1-0 Big Ten), who lost Glenn Robinson III to an apparent right leg injury early in the second half. Michigan is already down Mitch McGary, who is out indefinitely with a back injury.
Elliott Eliason had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota (11-3, 0-1). Andre Hollins had 12 points and five boards and the Golden Gophers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. But they missed six free throws and Austin Hollins missed eight of his nine shots.
With Robinson out, Horford's toughness inside lifted the Wolverines in a tense final five minutes. His dunk in traffic with 1:54 to play that gave Michigan a 57-54 lead.
Malik Smith hit a 3-pointer with 27.3 seconds to play that cut the deficit to 60-57 and his three free throws made it 61-60 Michigan with 5.6 seconds to play. But Nik Stauskas hit a pair of free throws and Dre Mathieu's 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Stauskas had 14 points and seven assists and Horford made six of his eight shots for Michigan.
Robinson rose up and emphatically swatted a layup attempt from Mathieu, but appeared to come down awkwardly on his right leg. He hobbled around for two more possessions, but had to leave the game.
The Gophers led 45-44 on a 3-pointer by Smith, but Horford had a jumper and a putback to give Michigan a 53-49 lead with 4:15 to go.
The Gophers were never able to wrestle the lead back.