Iowa alone in first place after edging pesky Gophers
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team didn’t have one of its best performances on Sunday, but did enough to now have sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
The fourth-ranked Hawkeyes climbed back on top of the Big Ten standings by hanging on to defeat last-place Minnesota 75-71 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa improved to 11-2 in conference play and 20-5 overall, while the Gophers fell to 0-13 in the Big Ten and 6-19 overall. This is the latest Iowa has been in first place in the Big Ten since Feb. 23, 2006.
Junior guard Peter Jok and senior forward Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa in scoring with 27 and 24 points, respectively. The 6-foot-6 Jok made a 3-point basket to expand Iowa’s lead 69-64 with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left to play. Jok also scored 11 of Iowa’s first 13 points in the second half, which started with the Hawkeyes clinging to a 34-28 lead.
The Gophers hung around in the second half, cutting the deficit to two points at 66-64 on two Joey King free throws with 2:58 remaining.
Jok then answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, expanding the lead back to five points. The Gophers never came closer than three points after that.
Minnesota was leading 24-20 when Iowa sophomore forward Dom Uhl grabbed a rebound and then dribbled the length of the court for a layup with 6:39 left in the first half.
The Gophers also were leading by four points at 26-22 when Jok made a 3-pointer with 3:49 left before halftime.
Uthoff finally broke into the scoring column when he made a basket to give Iowa a 27-26 lead with a 3:03 left in the first half. The 6-9 Cedar Rapids native closed the first half on a roll, scoring Iowa’s final nine points.
Minnesota only made one field goal in the final 7 minutes of the first half and trailed 34-28 at halftime. The Gophers did their best work on the boards in the first half, outrebounding Iowa 23-18, including 7-2 on the offensive end.
Iowa will look to protect its Big Ten lead when it plays at Penn State on Wednesday.
Maryland and Indiana both lost over the weekend, breaking the three-way tie for first place.