Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus #2 St. Thomas on March 5, 2026 , Loss , 67, to, 80
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FINAL
Men's Basketball
67
vs #2 St. Thomas
80
South Dakota State University Athletics
Wednesday, December 12
Minneapolis, Minn.
8 p.m.
South Dakota State University
72
at
78
Minnesota
Callahan's career night ends in a close loss at Minnesota
12/12/2007 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. ? South Dakota State sophomore Garrett Callahan scored a career high 28 points and the Jackrabbits hung with Minnesota all night, even holding a lead late in the game, but the Golden Gophers eventually pulled away for the 78-72 win on Wednesday night an front of 12,025 fans at historic Williams Arena.
The loss drops the Jacks to 3-6 overall, while the Golden Gophers improve to 7-1 with the win.
The Jackrabbits came away with points on their first four trips down the floor before Minnesota senior Dan Coleman's second dunk of the game put Minnesota up 9-8.
The Jacks would not get rattled though, and came back to score the next six points to take a 15-9 lead with 13:30 to go in the first half.
That lead quickly disappeared behind a pair of threes by the Gopher's Blake Hoffarber, whose second trey in less than a minute tied the game at 15 with 12:45 to go in the half.
Mohamed Bert? followed with a pair of free throws to put the Jacks back up by two, and a Kai Williams bucket and foul put the Jacks back up by five with just under ten minutes to play in the half.
After an exchange of hoops, Bert? put back a Williams miss to give the jacks a seven-point lead. Williams did not miss the next time down the floor, scoring a lay up that put the Jacks up by nine at 28-19 with 7:53 on the clock, prompting a timeout by Gopher's head coach Tubby Smith.
Minnesota came out of the time out and went on a 7-0 run to get within two points, until a Garrett Callahan three put the Jacks back up five with just over five minutes to go in the first half.
The Minnesota run turned into a 16-3 spurt, as the Gophers took a four-point lead with under three minutes to go, but the Jacks would not go away, and another Bert? put back at the buzzer sent the Jackrabbits to the locker room down only one at 38-37.
Minnesota scored the first points of the second half, but a Callahan three knotted things at 40 in the early going.
A pair of free throws by Spencer Tollackson and a three-pointer by Jamal Abu-Shamala put the Gophers up by five at 45-40.
The Jacks hung tough, and three-pointers by Williams and Callahan got the Jacks to within one at 51-50, but Hoffarber buried his third three go push the lead back to four the next time down the floor.
Down by four at 60-56 with fewer than nine minutes to play, Ben Beran who sat for much of the first half in foul trouble, drained a three from the baseline in front of the Jackrabbit bench to get the Jacks back within one at 60-59.
The Gopher's Lawrence Mackenzie answered with three seconds later to boost the lead back to four, but a Williams lay-up got the Jacks back to within two at 63-61 with 7:38 to play.
Following a timeout and down two, the Jacks tied it up at 63 all on an alley-oop inbound dunk by Williams from Callahan with just over seven minutes to play in the game.
A pair of free throws put the Gophers back on top, but Callahan countered with a bucket and a foul to give the Jacks a 66-65 lead with seven minutes remaining.
More than a minute and a half would go by before Tollackson put the Gophers back on top by the score of 69-66 with a hoop and a foul with 5:25 left to play.
The Jacks never let the Gophers pull away down the stretch, and a Callahan jumper with thirty seconds left brought the Jacks back within three, but clock favored the Gophers, and they made the foul shots count at the end to secure the six point win.
Williams joined Callahan as the only other Jackrabbit to finish with double digit points, he ended the night with 18.
Bert? finished the night with seven points, but he did pull down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Jacks who dominated the Gophers on the boards 41-26.
Coleman led Minnesota with 24 points, Tollackson finished with 14, while Damian Johnson finished the night with ten.
The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday, when they host Idaho, tip-off from Frost Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The loss drops the Jacks to 3-6 overall, while the Golden Gophers improve to 7-1 with the win.
The Jackrabbits came away with points on their first four trips down the floor before Minnesota senior Dan Coleman's second dunk of the game put Minnesota up 9-8.
The Jacks would not get rattled though, and came back to score the next six points to take a 15-9 lead with 13:30 to go in the first half.
That lead quickly disappeared behind a pair of threes by the Gopher's Blake Hoffarber, whose second trey in less than a minute tied the game at 15 with 12:45 to go in the half.
Mohamed Bert? followed with a pair of free throws to put the Jacks back up by two, and a Kai Williams bucket and foul put the Jacks back up by five with just under ten minutes to play in the half.
After an exchange of hoops, Bert? put back a Williams miss to give the jacks a seven-point lead. Williams did not miss the next time down the floor, scoring a lay up that put the Jacks up by nine at 28-19 with 7:53 on the clock, prompting a timeout by Gopher's head coach Tubby Smith.
Minnesota came out of the time out and went on a 7-0 run to get within two points, until a Garrett Callahan three put the Jacks back up five with just over five minutes to go in the first half.
The Minnesota run turned into a 16-3 spurt, as the Gophers took a four-point lead with under three minutes to go, but the Jacks would not go away, and another Bert? put back at the buzzer sent the Jackrabbits to the locker room down only one at 38-37.
Minnesota scored the first points of the second half, but a Callahan three knotted things at 40 in the early going.
A pair of free throws by Spencer Tollackson and a three-pointer by Jamal Abu-Shamala put the Gophers up by five at 45-40.
The Jacks hung tough, and three-pointers by Williams and Callahan got the Jacks to within one at 51-50, but Hoffarber buried his third three go push the lead back to four the next time down the floor.
Down by four at 60-56 with fewer than nine minutes to play, Ben Beran who sat for much of the first half in foul trouble, drained a three from the baseline in front of the Jackrabbit bench to get the Jacks back within one at 60-59.
The Gopher's Lawrence Mackenzie answered with three seconds later to boost the lead back to four, but a Williams lay-up got the Jacks back to within two at 63-61 with 7:38 to play.
Following a timeout and down two, the Jacks tied it up at 63 all on an alley-oop inbound dunk by Williams from Callahan with just over seven minutes to play in the game.
A pair of free throws put the Gophers back on top, but Callahan countered with a bucket and a foul to give the Jacks a 66-65 lead with seven minutes remaining.
More than a minute and a half would go by before Tollackson put the Gophers back on top by the score of 69-66 with a hoop and a foul with 5:25 left to play.
The Jacks never let the Gophers pull away down the stretch, and a Callahan jumper with thirty seconds left brought the Jacks back within three, but clock favored the Gophers, and they made the foul shots count at the end to secure the six point win.
Williams joined Callahan as the only other Jackrabbit to finish with double digit points, he ended the night with 18.
Bert? finished the night with seven points, but he did pull down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Jacks who dominated the Gophers on the boards 41-26.
Coleman led Minnesota with 24 points, Tollackson finished with 14, while Damian Johnson finished the night with ten.
The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday, when they host Idaho, tip-off from Frost Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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