Carr's 41 points not enough for Gophers in loss at Nebraska
Marcus Carr cared more about leading the Gophers basketball program back to the NCAA tournament than individual accolades this season.
The standout junior has proven to be one of the top point guard in the country, but even his outstanding play at times hasn't been enough lately to lift Minnesota against the Big Ten's bottom teams.
In a must-win game to stay in realistic contention for the NCAA tourney, Carr's career-high 41 points couldn't get the Gophers past Nebraska in their fifth straight loss Saturday, 78-74, in Lincoln.
Carr scored the second most points in Gophers history, and the highest scoring game since Andre Hollins' 41 points vs. Memphis in 2012.
The latest display of heroism from Carr came with layup to give him his 40th point making the deficit 74-73 with 13.6 second remaining.
After he was fouled, Kobe Webster drilled two free throws to extend Nebraska's lead to three points with eight seconds to play.
Carr went back to the foul line to hit 1-for-2, but the Huskers escaped to drop the Gophers (13-12, 6-12 in the Big Ten) to 0-9 on the road this season, the only winless team in the Big Ten away from home.
Part of the problem in road losses this season was the play of Carr, who averaged 13 points on 30% shooting in such games. That definitely wasn't the issue Saturday.
The 6-2 Toronto native, though, racked up 15 straight points in the first half, but the Gophers still trailed 33-31 at halftime after shooting 28% from the field as a team.
The Cornhuskers (6-17, 2-14) committed 13 turnovers in the first half, which would normally be detrimental an efficient offense. Not Saturday night when they were able to score rather undeterred at the rim with Minnesota's 7-footer Liam Robbins out with an ankle injury.
The Gophers faced their biggest deficit at 53-44 after Eduardo Andre's hook shot off an offensive rebound with 12:08 left in the second half.
Nebraska's Lat Mayen was issued a flagrant foul for a blow to Brandon Johnson's head that led to a five-point swing. Three free throws and Johnson's dunk off an inbound pass cut it to 53-49.
On Senior Night, the Huskers seemed determined to squash the rally for the visiting Gophers with an 11-2 run that was capped by Shamiel Stevenson's three-pointer for a 64-51 advantage.
Carr was held one field goal in the first 16 minutes and change of the second half, but his jumper got Minnesota within 69-63 with 3:10 to play. That gave him his fourth 30-point game of the season, first since a 102-95 overtime win vs. Iowa on Christmas Day at the Barn.
The All-Big Ten guard wasn't done when he hit his sixth three-pointer of the game for a 10-0 run. Carr's layup and free throw with 31 seconds left made it 73-71.
The Star Tribune did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.
