By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The status of Iowa senior forward Payton Sandfort is uncertain for Tuesday’s game against Minnesota, and the same could be said about Iowa’s defense.

Will the Hawkeyes struggle on defense as they did in back-to-back losses to USC and UCLA this past week in Los Angeles? Or will they be locked in on defense as they were in wins over Nebraska and Indiana at home?

If Tuesday’s game against the Gophers is a repeat of the USC and UCLA games on defense, then Iowa could be in danger of losing its third straight game.

“I think we went out there with a mindset about how we wanted to keep kind of building on what he had done in our two games at home and we didn’t live up to what we had talked about in practice and what we executed in practice,” said Iowa sophomore point guard Brock Harding. “When game time showed up, we just didn’t put together what we had been working on throughout the week.”

When asked what caused that to happen, Harding said:

“I don’t know. I’d just say probably a lack of focus, a lack of discipline and wanting to. It’s kind of a want to on defense. We know we can score, but if we want to win games, we’re going to have to kind of lock in on that side of the ball and flip things around.”

The good news for Iowa is that it will play its next two games against Minnesota and Penn State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena where Iowa is 10-1 this season, its only loss coming against nationally ranked Iowa State.

The Hawkeyes will face Penn State at 8 p.m. on Friday.

“Home games haven’t been too much of a problem for us,” Harding said. “We’ve kind of came in locked in and the fans have been good at home kind of keeping us locked in. We came out with a lot of energy in most of our games and put our foot down early and played pretty good defense, locked in, been in gaps, rebounded the ball a little better at home.

“We’ve got to keep that going throughout this week and kind of build on things, so when we get back on the road we’re ready to go and have something to build off here at home.”

As for Payton Sandfort’s status for Tuesday’s game, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery didn’t have an answer when he met with the media Monday afternoon.

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Fran McCaffery said.

Payton Sandfort was injured in the first half of last Friday’s 94-70 loss at UCLA. His arm was in a sling as he watched the second half from the bench.

Fran McCaffery said either Pryce Sandfort or Ladji Dembele would move into the starting lineup if Payton Sandfort can’t play.

Pryce Sandfort is a 6-7 sophomore forward and Payton Sandfort’s younger brother.

If Payton Sandfort can’t play against the Gophers, Iowa will be without one of top scorers and leaders.

“Me and Payton consider ourselves leaders and we didn’t have our team locked in enough when we went to (Los Angeles) to be ready to lock in on defense and to know that we were playing two pretty good teams,” Harding said. “So, that’s my fault as the point guard not having guys ready to go and locked in on the defensive side of the ball.

“In both games, teams got off to hot starts and that’s on our part, we gave up open shots. At this level, if you give up open shots they’re almost automatic. So, it kind of starts at the top and that’s on us to have our guys ready to go.”

Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak with an 84-81 overtime victory over No. 20 Michigan this past Thursday in Minneapolis. Minnesota is 9-9 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten play.

“Obviously, an impressive win the other day,” Fran McCaffery said of Minnesota’s win over Michigan. “They have had some really good games, probably should have won the Ohio State game. And even in some of the losses, they played really well for a half.”

Three Gophers are averaging in double figures with senior forward Dawson Garcia leading the team, averaging 19.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Garcia has team-highs in field goals (113), field goal attempts (233), free throws (91) and free throw attempts (119).

He also made the game-winning shot against Michigan from far beyond the 3-point arc.

“Garcia is a handful, but they’ve got some veteran guys that are playing really well,” Fran McCaffery said.

Garcia will be matched against 6-10 Iowa sophomore forward Owen Freeman, who looks forward to the challenge.

“He can kind of do it all,” Freeman said of Garcia. “He obviously hit that game winner against Michigan, so coming off a really good game. But he can shoot it. He can drive it.

“So, it’s going to be a great test and obviously another great big guy that I’m able to test myself against.”

Minnesota is 0-3 in true road games this season and 0-5 in games played away from Williams Arena.

So, at least on paper, this appears to be a winnable game for the Hawkeyes, especially if they’re locked in on defense.

 

Minnesota (9-9, 1-6) vs. Iowa (12-6, 3-4)

When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series: The Hawkeyes have won six straight and nine of the last nine meetings in the series over Minnesota dating back to the 2019-20 season. Iowa has won six straight in the series inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Gophers haven’t won in Iowa City since Feb. 12, 2015.

The Hawkeyes are 9-1 at home in the series since the 2011-12 season.

Minnesota leads the all-time series, 107-103.