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Indiana holds off furious Minnesota rally behind huge game from Xavier Johnson

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Heading into the weekend, Indiana remained on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers likely still have some work to do in the final week of the season and during the B1G Tournament, but Indiana avoided disaster with a win vs. Minnesota on Sunday.

For much of that game, Indiana appeared to be in serious control. Xavier Johnson had a monster game for the Hoosiers and had a bucket in the second half that pushed Indiana’s lead north of 20 points.

That lead ballooned all the way to 27 points with Indiana leading 70-43 with 8 minutes left in the game. However, that lead would not stay that way.

Over the next 7 minutes, Minnesota continued chipping away at that lead. The Gophers pulled the lead back all the way to 81-76 with 24 seconds remaining. Though Minnesota fought all the way to the final whistle, the Gophers ran out of time while Indiana held on for the win.

Johnson led the way for Indiana with a team-high 24 points and shot 4-for-6 from 3-point range. He added 8 assists and 6 rebounds for a complete performance in the win.

On the other side, Payton Willis led Minnesota with 28 points and went 7-for-14 from 3-point range.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.