Gophers Hate Iowa to the Tune of 74-61

Oh, the drama that is being a Gopher Basketball fan (and writer). You laugh, you cry; you cry, you laugh. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster lately. Thankfully, we’re all back on a high after Minnesota’s convincing win over #18 Iowa Saturday afternoon at The Barn.

The Gophers turned in their third consecutive very good performance at home, playing a complete game and doing just about everything well. They led almost the entire first half and, after Iowa went on a run to get right back in it, closed out the half with an 8-0 run to take a 38-29 lead into the locker room.

Minnesota maintained that nine-point lead for the first 7 minutes of the second half, but then Iowa went on 10-0 run to take a 51-50 lead at the midpoint. The Gophers obviously responded well though and went on to outscore the Hawkeyes 24-10 the rest of the way.

Despite some struggles against Iowa’s zone in the second half, the Gophers put up some excellent offensive numbers. They shot 51% from the field, had 19 assists on 26 field goals (including several highlight passes), and committed just 10 turnovers. They were also solid defensively outside of a few lapses, as they held Iowa to just 41% shooting from the field. And perhaps the biggest key came on the glass, where Minnesota outrebounded 36-25 and limiting them to just 8 offensive rebounds.

Vincent Grier led the way with another strong performance. He finished with 18 points (including a perfect 10-10 at the free throw line), 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Adam Boone was next with 12 points. He wasn’t red hot, but he was hot enough to hit a couple of big three-pointers in addition to dishing out 7 assists. Jamal Abu-Shamala scored 11 points on a very cold shooting performance by his standards, but he played great in other areas in his 27 minutes of playing time. He went 5 for 6 at the free throw line in crunch time, grabbed a couple of nice offensive boards, and had 2 steals. Zach Puchtel has another great game with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Spencer Tollackson was also solid with 10 points and 2 assists in his 18 minutes.

Next up is Purdue at home Wednesday night. As long as they don’t change a thing, the Gophers should have no trouble winning that game. (So please don’t change a thing, guys).

Here’s the box score.

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