MINNEAPOLIS — In his two games against Wisconsin this season, Minnesota junior guard Lawrence Westbrook has done everything he could to help the Gophers sweep the Badgers in the season series.
In Madison on Jan. 15, Westbrook put up 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting to help the Golden Gophers overcome a late deficit to beat the Badgers 78-74 in overtime. Last night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, it was more of the same down the stretch.
“A guy like Lawrence had another good game against a very good team,” Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith said. “Wisconsin is probably the hottest team in the Big Ten over the last month.”
Westbrook, who usually starts for the Golden Gophers, came off the bench because of poor performance against the Fighting Illini last week when he went 2-for-10 and only had four points. But he used the rest he had off the bench to lead his team to a comeback victory at home.
“He was struggling (with) shooting well and that can effect other parts of the game,” Smith said. “I thought that’s what was happening after watching tapes and going into things. Again, tonight, you can tell he had more energy than anyone else at the end because he was rested and he was fresh and he attacked. He’s a little pit bull. I’m glad he’s on my team.”
In the first half, Westbrook, who was guarded mostly by Wisconsin guard Jason Bohannon, was held without a score in nine minutes of play. He went 0-for-2 from the field and missed on his only three-point attempt.
Bohannon played well against Westbrook until 8:53 left in the game, when he scored his first basket. From there, he scored five straight points to help fend off the Badgers’ comeback and keep a 38-35 lead with 7:43 left to go in the game.
“He’s tough — he’s proven that,” Wisconsin junior guard Tr?von Hughes said. “He took over when he needed to and got the ‘W.'”
But, it wasn’t until the last 1:53 left to go in the game Westbrook began to shine. With his team down 46-43, Westbrook began to drive the lane and had two straight baskets to bring his team to within one with the score 46-45.
A foul by Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor with 29 seconds left in the game put Westbrook on the line, and after sinking both shots, he put Minnesota up for good with a 47-46 lead.
He hit two more sets of free throws, making him 7-of-7 for the night. Against the Badgers at the Kohl Center, he found the same success, going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe as well.
“[It’s] because he’s such a good free throw shooter, too,” Smith said. “You gotta back off because he is going to make his free throws. … He’s shooting 90 percent. He is one of the best free throw shooters in the league. He just hasn’t been getting to the line and that’s another thing that he hasn’t been doing in the last month.”
While Westbrook was able to carry Minnesota over the last two minutes of the game, Hughes fumbled an inbounds pass with less than 10 seconds remaining, allowing the Gophers to secure the victory.
Overall, Westbrook scored the last ten points of the game. He was single-handedly able to bring the Golden Gophers back from a five-point deficit to a five-point victory in a matter of two minutes.
“Westbrook blows by Bohannon, blows by Jordan [Taylor],” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “[He] was the guy that got the ball and he made the free throws. So he got the last 10 points because he was the guy that was going to carry you at the free throw line, and he did.”
