Another big win at the Barn for Gopher basketball, upsetting #19 Iowa 70-67. Back-to-back Big Ten wins for Minnesota, who now sit with a 3-1 Big Ten record and have won five straight games. The Gophers led by nine at the break and maintained an 8-14-point cushion for most of the second half before Iowa mounted a comeback in the final six minutes. Iowa went from down 14 to up by one with 1:14 remaining. But Minnesota bounced back, scoring the next five points, and finishing the game outscoring Iowa 7-3 when it mattered most.
Langston Reynolds led the way for the Gophers with 22 points, his biggest game in a Minnesota uniform.
Advertisement
THE STAT: It was mentioned in the 3 Keys preview that Iowa forces a ton of turnovers. They are the best in the Big Ten at generating turnovers and this was an absolute key if Minnesota wanted to pull off the upset. Well, the Gophers had only 10 turnovers for the game, to Iowa’s 14, and ended with a 20-13 advantage in points off turnovers. This was Minnesota’s lowest turnover percentage since the Purdue loss.
TURNING POINT: In so many of Minnesota’s recent games, the turning point was basically the opening tip. Tonight, it was at the final buzzer when Iowa missed three looks at a game-tying three. On Iowa’s final possession, Stirtz dribbles down and shoots a contested three from the edge of the Cambria logo. He misses, but Cam Manyawu gets the offensive rebound and kicks it out to Brendan Housen, who misses a contested three from the corner. Manyawu gets another board that finds Stirtz near the top of the key. He pump fakes to see Isaac Asuma go flying by him, he dribbles, side-steps and has a wide open look that hits the front of the iron as time expired.
HOT: Reynolds is on a nice little run right now and if you look at his Big Ten only stats, he’s playing great. In Minnesota’s four Big Ten games he is averaging 15.8 ppg, compared to his 8.6 in non-conference games. His rebounding his higher, his assists are higher and his shooting percentages are higher.
NOT: I am aware that Bennett Stirtz finished with 21 points but the Gopher defense did a fantastic job containing him. The Hawkeye sharp-shooter had 0 points at halftime on 0/5 shooting, he ended the game shooting 2/10 from three and missed an open three to tie the game. He had three turnovers, three fouls and earned most of his points in the second half by going 7/10 from the free throw line. Yes, 21 points is a nice game, but 2/10 shooting from three is unusual for Stirtz. I’m sure he’s not feeling like he had a good game.
Advertisement
BAD MOVE: With 1:13 remaining, Ben McCollum called a timeout after Cooper Koch’s basket, which was a result of a Gohper turnover. This basket gave Iowa its first lead since the first half, and they were in the midst of a 20-5 run. The timeout allowed Minnesota to regroup, catch their breath and finish the game outscoring Iowa 7-3.
NOTABLE: This was one of the worst rebounding performances by the Gophers this season. Rebounding was bad and three point shooting was terrible (5/20 from three). Hard to imagine a win over a ranked Iowa team when we don’t rebound and we can’t hit from three. But this team continues to show tremendous toughness and togetherness.
UP NEXT: The second opponent in this three-game home stand is USC. The Trojans are finishing up a three-game road trip to the Midwest in January (can we get Eric Musselman to rant about being a West Coast team in a Midwest conference). They have lost to Michigan and Michigan State in the new year and are either going to be hungry on Friday or weary. Tip-off is Friday night at 7:30 and the game can be seen on BTN.
