Minnesota wins ugly in Iowa City

It took some outstanding second half defense, but Minnesota came back from a 13-point deficit to defeat Iowa, 52-49. The Gophers forced 17 Iowa turnovers, which is an astronomical number considering the game's slow pace (55 possessions).

With 17 minutes remaining in the game, Iowa had a 7 point lead and still seemed in control. During the next 12 minutes, Iowa turned it over 8 times and went 0 for 6 from the field, scoring only on a pair of free throws. Over the same stretch, Minnesota had just one turnover and crashed the backboards hard, getting themselves 18 shots from the field. The Gophers only made 6 of them, but that was still enough (along with some free throws) to complete a 17-2 run, grabbing a lead they would not relinquish.

Iowa's deadeye shooting deserted them as they posted an eFG of 46.4%. That may not sound too bad, but it's Iowa's 3rd worst showing of the season. The Hawkeye offense relies almost entirely on accurate shooting, as they still commit a fair number of turnovers and don't grab many offensive rebounds. Iowa took over half of their shots from downtown and converted on just 30.4% of them, and it's tough for Iowa to score without hitting threes.

Minnesota actually shot a lot worse than Iowa, but the Gophers kept their turnovers more reasonable (20% TO rate) and hit the offensive glass hard (45.0 OR%) - sorta the anti-Iowa. It wasn't a pretty performance, but it was enough. Travis Busch had a nice game off the bench, scoring 10 points on 7 shots and grabbing 4 rebounds. Lawrence Westbrook also had 10 on 7 shots.

For the Hawkeyes, Matt Gatens had another good all-around game, scoring 11 points on 5 shots, grabbing 5 rebounds, and dishing 3 assists (2 turnovers). Jeff Peterson scored 16 on 10 shots but committed 8(!) turnovers. The bigger story for Iowa may be the health of their only real inside presence, Cyrus Tate - he came down on Colton Iverson's foot and was helped off the floor with what appeared to be a badly sprained ankle. If he misses significant time, a small Iowa team gets even smaller, and defensive rebounding becomes a major concern.

Minnesota really needed this win to keep their momentum going - they next face Penn State at home, but then have three consecutive tough ones: at Wisconsin, at Northwestern, vs Purdue. Pomeroy's ratings only gave the Gophers a 28% chance of winning at Iowa, so this is a bigger victory than it might initially appear. For Iowa, this could end up being one of those games they wish they had back come Selection Sunday. Box score.

Tonight, Ohio State figures to get back on track against lowly Houston Baptist, which features Purdue transfer Gordon Watt. Six of their top 7 players are seniors, including several D1 transfers, but they've managed only one victory this season. PG Baron Sauls is a nice player that can both pass and score. Tipoff is at 6pm CT on the Big Ten Network.