Minnesota Keeps Iowa Winless in Big Ten with 69-59 Win
January 16, 2011

The Minnesota Gophers were coming off a three-point win over eighth-ranked Purdue as they prepared to face Iowa, which came into the game with a 0-4 conference records, the latest losses being by 29 points to Northwestern and 23 points to Purdue. “Will the Gophers play down to their opponent?” asked a reporter before the Iowa game. The response was, “Probably, but they’ll probably still win.” So it was as the Gophers blew a 15-point lead, dropped behind by three points in the second half, but came back to win 69-59 as their big men dominated late—Ralph Sampson blocking seven shots in the game and Trevor Mbakwe getting 7 of his 12 rebounds in the second half.

“Based on how we played the last two games, we needed to play a lot harder and a lot better,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said, “You know a team like Iowa, even though its struggling,” would come ready to play.

The Hawkeyes tightened up in the second half, committing only two turnovers after giving up the ball eight times in the first half. Two of the turnovers led to back-to-back dunks by Rodney Williams to put the Gophers ahead 20-14. A few minutes later, after Al Nolen of the Gophers made his first of two free throws, McCaffery was assessed a technical foul by Bill Elk, prompting a heated reaction that could have gotten him a second. Blake Hoffharber shot the free throws for the technical, making one of two, and then Nolen made his second free throw for a 25-14 lead as the student section serenaded McCaffery with chants of “Asshole!”

After the game McCaffery said he drew the technical for “complaining.” When asked of the nature of his complaint, he replied, “I don’t think I’m allowed to say.” His complaints may have been related to the free-throw disparity between the teams. In the first half the Gophers shot 14 free throws to 2 for Iowa; for the game the Gophers had 37 free throws to 11 for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa also had trouble with rebounding as the Gophers had 42 in the game, 15 off the offensive board, to 32 for Iowa. “Minnesota is big and strong,” said McCaffery, adding that Iowa sometimes had to go with a small lineup, “not by design but because of foul trouble.” Iowa center Jerryd Cole fouled out of the game with four-and-a-half minutes left. “As the game wore on, rebounding became more of a problem,” said McCaffery.

The Gophers built a 29-14 lead with a little over two minutes to go in the first half, and the Hawkeyes closed to within 30-19 at halftime. Iowa came out strong in the second half, forcing three turnovers that led to a 13-2 run to start the half. The Hawkeyes took a 35-34 lead on a three-pointer by Eric May. After a Hoffarber basket put the Gophers back in front, Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe scored to give Iowa a 37-36 lead. Basabe then broke a 37-37 tie with a three-point play. Besabe led all scorers in the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The game was tied 42-42 when the Gophers scored 10 straight points, starting with a three-point play. Mbawke, who had earlier in the half missed three straight free-throws, went to the line for a one-and-one. This time he was on target, sinking both. Nolen later connected on a three-pointer, and Mbawke hit from the field to culminate the run.

Mbakwe led the Gophers with 16 points and 12 rebounds as he started his second game in a row on the bench following an arrest last week for violating a restraining order. He entered the game after 3 minutes, 6 seconds. Following the game, he spoke of “How you deal with adversity,” ignoring that his adversity—he missed the previous year while dealing with a felony charge for assault and then having a restraining order, which he is now accused of violating, placed on him.

Iowa got all of hits scoring from four starters with Basabe, May, Matt Gatens, and Bryce Cartwright all in double-figures. Besides Mbawke, the Gophers got better production from freshmen Austin Hollins and Maverick Ahanmisi. Smith commented on the “good bench play from the freshman.” He credited Sampson for his seven blocks but noted that they were often the “product of others getting beat.”

Minnesota will next play at Michigan before returning home to face Northwestern.

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