MBB Preview \\ Minnesota

Fresh off a West Coast road trip, the University of Iowa men’s basketball team returns home to host Minnesota on Tuesday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The game will begin at 8 p.m. (CT) and be televised on BTN.
• Tickets are $20-50 for adults and $10-15 for youth.

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Television: Tuesday’s game will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Shon Morris (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• Iowa returns home to host Minnesota on Tuesday on Mediacom Court.  The Hawkeyes have won six straight and eight of the last nine meetings over the Gophers, including six straight in Iowa City.
• The Hawkeyes scored 80+ points in 11 consecutive games from Dec. 3-Jan. 14 -- the longest stretch since the 1988-89 season (13 straight games). Iowa has scored 80+ in all but three games this season.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten and ranks third nationally, averaging 88.4 points per game.  The team’s 50.8 field goal percentage is second-best in the league (fifth in country).
• Sophomore Owen Freeman netted a career-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the road loss at USC.  It was his third 20-point game this season.
• Senior Payton Sandfort, who was the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 13, registered three-straight 20-point contests before leaving Friday’s game at UCLA because of injury.
• The Hawkeyes rallied from 15 down in the second half to force overtime en route to a 97-87 victory over Nebraska on Jan. 7 in Iowa City.  Iowa has come from behind to win four games this season when trailing in the second half.  
• 30x2... junior Josh Dix (31 points, 7 3s) and Payton Sandfort (30, 6 3s) combined for 61 points and 13 3s against the Huskers as they became the first Hawkeye duo since 2022 (Jordan Bohannon (30), Keegan Murray (30), at Maryland) to both score 30+ in a single game.
 • The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor nine times and better than 60 percent three times, including a season-best 62.7 percent in the win over New Orleans on Dec. 15.  The team is 8-1 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman is third in the Big Ten and seventh nationally with a 64.9 field goal percentage. He is averaging 16.7 points (11th in Big Ten) and 6.4 rebounds per game. He is the only Hawkeye to score in double figures in every game he has played. 
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 16 games, including 10+ in 10 contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern -- the most since 2022 -- and 17 in the win over Nebraska .  Iowa is tops in the Big Ten (12th nationally), averaging 10.7 per game.  
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.4, 3rd in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83, 5th in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in eight games.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• The Gophers snapped a four-game losing streak with an 84-81 overtime victory over No. 20 Michigan on Jan. 16 in Minneapolis.   Minnesota is 9-9 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten play.
• Minnesota is 0-3 in true road games this season and 0-5 in games played away from Williams Arena.  
• Three Gophers are averaging in double figures with 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).
• Garcia had 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals in the win over Michigan.  He hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the logo to send the Gophers to their first league win of the season.
• Mike Mitchell, Jr., (12.1 points) and Lu’cye Patterson (11.3 points) are both averaging in double digits.  Patterson also has a team-best 67 assists.
• The Gophers are leading the Big Ten, averaging 5.2 blocks per game.  
• Minnesota commits 10.3 turnovers per game, which is second-fewest in the league.
• The Gophers average 69.2 points per game and give up 68.8 points.  Minnesota shoots 44.3 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from 3-point range, averaging 6.8 3s per contest.

SERIES HISTORY

• 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.   

LAST GAME: UCLA 94, IOWA 70

UCLA made its first nine field goals and 11-of-12 over the first eight minutes to jump out to a 28-9 lead en route to a 94-70 victory over the Hawkeyes on Jan. 17 in Los Angeles.
• The Bruins, who scored 57 points in the first half, shot 62.1 percent from the field and out-rebounded Iowa, 29-19.  UCLA also limited Iowa to a season-low 70 points.
• Junior Josh Dix paced the team with 19 points, making 7-of-11 field goals, including five 3s.

PAYTON JOINS 1,000/500 CLUB

Senior Payton Sandfort is the 29th player in program history with 1,000+ career points and 500+ rebounds. He is the first Hawkeye since Joe Wieskamp in 2021 to join the club.

POINTS-ASSISTS DUBS

Sophomore Brock Harding collected his second points-assists double-double of the season (third of his career) in Iowa’s 85-60 win over Indiana on Jan. 11.  He finished the game with 10 points and 10 assists.
•  It was Harding’s third career 10+ assist game, which are tied for the sixth-most in program history.
• Harding’s three career points-assists double-doubles are tied for the fourth most in program history along with Ronnie Lester and Andre Woolridge. He trails Jordan Bohannon (7), B.J. Armstrong (5) and Jeff Horner (5) in the record books.

SANDFORT NAMED B1G CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Senior Payton Sandfort was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 13 after averaging 26 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists, while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and 52.6 percent from 3-point range.  He tied a career-high with 30 points (all in second half and OT) in the win over Nebraska and scored 23 (21 in the second half) in the 25-point victory over Indiana.  
• It is the second Player of the Week honor of Sandfort’s career.

THELWELL APPROACHES 1K
Graduate transfer Drew Thelwell has scored 986 career points in 131 career games at Morehead State and Iowa.  He is 14 points shy of the 1,000 point milestone.