Brandon Paul’s jumper at the buzzer lifted the Illini to a 51-49 win over Minnesota in the first round of a battle between sub .500 Big Ten teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations. On the possession prior to the Paul jumper, Illinois (22-11) collected four offensive rebounds before D.J. Richardson knocked down a right wing three-pointer to tie the game at 49-49 with 48 seconds remaining. Austin Hollins stepped out of bounds on the Gophers’ ensuing touch and Paul let the clock run down before pulling up for the game-winning left elbow jumper for his 25th point. Austin Hollins netted 16 points, while Andre Hollins finished with 13 points for the Gophers (20-12), who have dropped three in a row and seven of their last 10 contests.