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By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- T.J. Parker scored 19 points, including the go-ahead pull-up jump shot with 0.9 seconds left, as Northwestern stormed back to beat a stunned Minnesota team 55-53 Wednesday night.
The Gophers led 50-40 with 4:03 left on Vince Grier's dunk. Grier, who with 32 points matched the career high he set in Saturday's win over Wisconsin, drew a technical foul for slapping the backboard on the way down.
The Wildcats (11-11, 4-6 Big Ten), who won their first road game in seven tries, snapped to life after that while Minnesota let a sure win slip away with sloppy ballhandling and three missed free throws in the final two minutes.
Dan Coleman went 1-for-2 at the line with 2:01 left, giving the Gophers a 52-47 lead. A 3-pointer by Vedran Vukusic brought Northwestern within two with 1:08 remaining, and Aaron Robinson missed one of his two foul shots at the other end to make it 53-50.
Vince Scott's 3-pointer tied it with 44 seconds left, and Brent Lawson's 3-pointer from the corner hit the rim and bounced out with 17 seconds remaining to set up the Wildcats' final possession.
Twisting fast-break layups, pull-up jumpers in the lane, 3-pointers to beat the shot clock _ Grier did it all once again for the Gophers (16-7, 6-4), whose NCAA tournament hopes took a hit with this loss.
The Wildcats were sharp at the start, using coach Bill Carmody's Princeton-style offense, a couple of early turnovers by the Gophers and some tough interior defense by Vince Scott and Davor Duvancic to take an 11-2 lead in a little less than five minutes.
Duvancic's nifty backdoor flip to Vedran Vukusic led to an easy layup and a 13-7 edge with 13:02 remaining before halftime. Then Minnesota's defense kicked in, holding Northwestern to just a pair of free throws over the balance of the half.
The left-handed Grier helped the Gophers build a 23-15 lead, one that was cut to six when Parker's layup with five seconds left ended the Wildcats' drought of nearly 13 minutes without a field goal.
Proving he's not just a perimeter player, all of Grier's 14 first-half points came in the paint. Leaping high to catch a pass from Aaron Robinson, Grier attacked Michael Jenkins and the basket with 8:37 remaining, bringing the ball up and under for a left-handed layup and Minnesota's first lead, 14-13.
Northwestern, missing center Mike Thompson to a sprained right ankle for the second straight game, didn't go away. The Wildcats stayed close enough to make a run after Grier's technical.
