March 14, 2008

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota's Blake Hoffarber caught a long pass with 1.5 seconds left Friday night, spun away from a defender and hit a 14-foot left-handed shot at the buzzer to upset No. 22 Indiana 59-58 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

The improbable play was reminiscent of Christian Laettner's final shot against Kentucky in the NCAA tournament and set off a wild celebration on the baseline, where teammates mobbed Hoffarber before the replay review confirmed it was good.

Just seconds earlier, it appeared sixth-seeded Minnesota was about to be eliminated on another improbable sequence.

Hoosiers forward D.J. White tipped in a missed free throw to and drew a foul with 3.1 seconds left to tie the score at 57. He then rebounded his own miss, drew another foul and made one free throw to give Indiana a 58-57 lead with 1.5 seconds left.

The Golden Gophers (20-12) were led by Damian Johnson with 17 points and Lawrence McKenzie with 15. Hoffarber finished with 5. They now face 10th-seeded Illinois in Saturday's semifinals after the Fighting Illini upset No. 17 Purdue 74-67 in overtime.

White, named the Big Ten's player of the year Monday, had 23 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Hoosiers.

For Minnesota, it was a reversal of their first-round victory over Northwestern, when they fell into a 16-point first half deficit. This time, they built 16-point first half lead and had to survive the ferocious comeback led by White.

The Golden Gophers opened the game on a 19-5 run against a Hoosiers team that never looked in synch.

Minnesota hit open 3-pointers and dominated the glass, especially on offense. Meanwhile, Indiana (25-7) made only two baskets in the first 11 minutes.

But White changed that. His layuup with 8:39 to go sparked a 7-0 run that got Indiana within 24-15, and his relentless effort inside pushed his teammates to play more passionately.

They responded with another 7-0 spurt, trimming the lead to 26-22 with 4:18 remaining, but Minnesota closed the half with a 6-2 flurry to take a 34-27 lead.

Indiana rallied quickly in the second half, opening on a 7-0 run to tie it at 34 and then trading baskets and leads over the next nine minutes before Minnesota broke a 48-48 tie with five straight points.

The Hoosiers rallied again, cutting the lead to 57-55 with 45.9 seconds left, finally tied it on White's tip-in and took the lead on White's free throw with 1.5 seconds left.

Minnesota sent Travis Busch, a former Minnesota Mr. Basketball, into the game to throw the inbound pass. After running back-and-forth along the baseline, he finally got a free lane, heaved the ball to Hoffarber, who hit the winner.