Minnesota Golden Gophers at Iowa Hawkeyes
· NCAA Men's Basketball
McCaffrey, Sandfort help Iowa erase 20-point deficit, beat Minnesota 90-85
Tony Perkins added 12 of his 18 in the second half and Owen Freeman had 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for Iowa (14-10, 6-7 Big Ten).
Dawson Garcia scored 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, Braeden Carrington also scored 18 and Mike Mitchell Jr. added 17 points, including five 3-pointers for Minnesota (15-8, 6-6).
Mitchell hit his last 3 to make it 62-42 about 4 minutes into the second half and Cam Christie's one-hand dunk in transition made it 66-47 with 14:20 left. McCaffrey scored 10 of his 14 second-half points in the next 6 minutes as the Hawkeyes made it an eight-point game.
Carrington made two free throws that gave the Golden Gophers a 77-65 lead with 7:40 remaining but they didn't score again for the next 4-plus minutes. Sandfort scored nine points in a 16-0 run, including a layup that gave Iowa its first lead since the opening minutes followed by a 3-pointer that capped the spurt and made it 81-77 with 4 minutes to go.
Parker Fox answered with a dunk that snapped the Gopher's scoring drought and made it a two-point game but they got no closer.
Iowa made 9 of 11 from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal it.
Pharrel Payne made a layup that gave Minnesota the lead with 17:29 left in the first half as Garcia scored six points in a 10-4 opening run. McCaffrey converted a three-point play, Sandfort hit two free throws and then stole a pass and found McCaffrey for a fast-break layup in a 7-2 spurt that cut Iowa's deficit to 26-24 about 10 minutes later. Mitchell then hit a 3-pointer to open a 12-1 spurt that made it 38-25 when Christie capped the spurt when he hit another 3 with 5:44 to go before halftime.
Iowa visits Maryland on Valentine's Day. Minnesota plays at No. 2 Purdue on Friday.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 85 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:00 | End of 2nd half | 85 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:03 | Mike Mitchell Jr. made Three Point Jumper. | 85 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:07 | Isaiah Ihnen Defensive Rebound. | 82 - 90 |
| 2nd 0:07 | Owen Freeman missed Free Throw. | 82 - 90 |
Statistics
 MINN |
 IOWA |
|
|---|---|---|
| 30-64 | FG | 31-65 |
| 47 | Field Goal % | 48 |
| 12-26 | 3PT | 5-15 |
| 46 | Three Point % | 33 |
| 13-19 | FT | 23-28 |
| 68 | Free Throw % | 82 |
| 35 | Rebounds | 39 |
| 12 | Offensive Rebounds | 14 |
| 23 | Defensive Rebounds | 25 |
| 21 | Assists | 14 |
| 7 | Steals | 7 |
| 4 | Blocks | 6 |
| 10 | Turnovers | 7 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 10 | Total Turnovers | 7 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 13 | Points Off Turnovers | 17 |
| 12 | Fast Break Points | 16 |
| 28 | Points in Paint | 44 |
| 22 | Fouls | 11 |
| 20 | Largest Lead | 5 |
Game Information
Location: Iowa City, IA
Attendance: 9,768 | Capacity:
2025-26 Big Ten Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 2-0 | - | 12-0 |
| Michigan | 2-0 | - | 11-0 |
| Michigan State | 2-0 | - | 11-1 |
| Purdue | 2-0 | - | 11-1 |
| UCLA | 2-0 | - | 10-3 |
| USC | 1-1 | 1 | 12-1 |
| Iowa | 1-1 | 1 | 10-2 |
| Indiana | 1-1 | 1 | 10-3 |
| Illinois | 1-1 | 1 | 9-3 |
| Ohio State | 1-1 | 1 | 9-3 |
| Washington | 1-1 | 1 | 8-4 |
| Wisconsin | 1-1 | 1 | 8-4 |
| Minnesota | 1-1 | 1 | 7-5 |
| Penn State | 0-2 | 2 | 8-4 |
| Northwestern | 0-2 | 2 | 7-5 |
| Maryland | 0-2 | 2 | 6-6 |
| Oregon | 0-2 | 2 | 6-6 |
| Rutgers | 0-2 | 2 | 6-6 |