Hawkeyes Defeat Gophers, Coach McCaffery Is Iowa's All-Time Wins Leader

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The University of Iowa men’s basketball team defeated Minnesota, 86-77, on Monday evening at Williams Arena. The win marks head coach Fran McCaffery’s 272^nd career win at Iowa, passing Dr. Tom Davis for the most wins in school history. Iowa moves to 11-6 on the season and 3-3 in Big Ten play.

Sophomore Josh Dix entered the starting lineup for an injured Patrick McCaffery (ankle). Dix set a new career-high in points with 21, breaking his previous career high set on Friday (16 points, vs. Nebraska). Dix caught fire in the second half scoring 14 points and knocking down 5-of-7 shots. Dix grabbed four rebounds, dished out five assists, and had two steals. The performance marks Dix’s first back-to-back double-digit games of his career.

Graduate Ben Krikke led all scorers in the game with 25 points, tying a season-high in points. Krikke leads the team with six performances of 20+ points. Freshman Owen Freeman, coming off his sixth Big Ten Freshman of the Week award, added 12 points to go along with eight rebounds despite being in foul trouble for much of the second half.

Senior Tony Perkins rounded out the Hawkeyes in double figures. Perkins finished with 13 points to go along with five assists. The Indianapolis native, has scored 10+ points in eight straight games.

Head Coach Fran McCaffery now sits alone at the top of the all-time wins in school history with 272. McCaffery’s first win at Iowa came against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 16^th,  2010. The Hawkeyes defeated the Warhawks, 68-40.

Iowa finished the game shooting 35-of-65 from the field and 3-of-13 from deep. The Hawkeyes converted at the free throw line knocking down 13-of-16. The Hawkeye defense forced the Gophers into 12 turnovers and were able to convert that into 16 points.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY

“It’s been an incredible journey. It doesn’t seem like 14 years ago, but it was. Moved my family to Iowa. I got to coach two of my boys. I got to coach some really special people. One of my first captains on my staff. When I came here, I was very aware of the history. Great players, great teams, great coaches. I was just so proud to be the Hawkeye coach. You never think that 14 years later you’d still be doing it. Your being talked about like the other ones. Most specifically, Dr. Tom, who is somebody that I knew really well and got to know even better. He’s supported me since I got here. It’s an incredibly proud moment for me, my family, the program, and all those guys who wore the jersey. One of them is here tonight, Luka Garza. He’s responsible for a lot of wins I can tell you that. He made me a much better coach.”

“There is no question [that the team is growing]. We’ve had some really good wins. We’ve played well at times in our losses. We’ve lost to really good teams. You’d like to think you’re going to win at home, but we lost to Michigan. Incredibly well coached team with really good players. At Purdue, a lot of teams are going to lose there. At Wisconsin, a lot of teams are going to lose there. So, what you do is learn in those games what you did well and what not to do. So that when you have a chance you can get some wins. It’s hard to get them in this league, especially on the road. I always say and every coach says it, it’s the best league in the country. Whatever league you’re in everyone always says it. But the thing that I always say about this league and why it’s the best, it’s the best top to bottom.”

GAME NOTABLES

• Tonight’s victory is head coach Fran McCaffery’s 272nd career win, making him the winningest coach in Iowa men’s basketball history.   
• The Hawkeyes have won six of their last seven games, improving to 11-6 overall – a season-high five games over .500.
  • Iowa is 3-3 in the Big Ten Conference after starting the league slate 0-3.
• The win is Iowa’s first true road victory of the season. 
• Iowa trailed 14-3 over the first four minutes before going on a 17-4 run over a six-minute stretch to take a 20-18 lead.
  • The Hawkeyes’ defense gave up 18 points over the final 16 minutes of the first half and Iowa led by as many as nine points (37-28).
• Graduate Ben Krikke scored 25 points, making 11-of-17 field goals.  The 25 points tie Krikke’s season high.
  • It is Krikke’s team-leading sixth 20-point game this season.  He has been in double figures in 15 games this season.
  • It is his third game making 10 or more field goals.
• Sophomore Josh Dix scored a career-high 21 points, making 7-of-12 field goals.  He also had four rebounds, five assists and two steals.
  • Dix is the sixth different Hawkeye to record a 20-point game this season. 
  • It is the second straight game Dix has set a career high in points.
  • It is the first time in Dix’s career he has scored in double figures in consecutive games.
• Senior Tony Perkins scored 13 points and had five assists.  He has been in double figures in 15 games.
• Freshman Owen Freeman scored 12 points and had a team-high eight rebounds in 17 minutes. 
• The Hawkeyes shot 53.8 percent from the field (35-of-65) for a second straight game and ninth time this season.
  • Iowa is 8-1 when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor.
• Iowa had 23 assists on its 35 field goals.  It is the ninth game the team has had 20+ assists.
  • The team had three different players with 5 assists.
• The Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle, 37-30.  Iowa is 10-1 when winning the battle on the glass.
• Senior forward Patrick McCaffery (ankle) missed the game because of injury.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, hosting No. 2 Purdue at 1 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.