Minnesota scraped their way to a 52-49 victory over Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Thursday night. The win marked the Gophers' first Big Ten road victory of the season. Accumulating traditionally tough conference wins on the road will be imperative to Minnesota's success in the Big Ten.
The 1st half was an offensive abomination for the Gophers, who shot a mere 32% from the field. The high-low passing attack which has become a hallmark of the Gophers offense failed to make an appearance in Iowa City. Minnesota was unable was unable to get anything going on the interior most of the evening, causing Tubby Smith to deploy small lineups for longer durations.
The Gophers trailed by 6 at the half, but went on a 21-8 run which began in the closing minutes of the 1st half and carried over into the 2nd.
Minnesota jumped out to a tentative 8 point lead in the 2nd half, only to see it dwindle by the final minute of play. Iowa guard Jeff Peterson added 3 of his 16 points with just over 5 seconds remaining to trim the Gophers' lead to 50-49. Lawrence Westbrook responded by hitting a pair of free throws to secure the win for Minnesota as they improved to 2-1 in conference play.
Westbrook and reserve guard Travis Busch each finished with 10 points to lead the Gophers on a collectively off shooting night.
Minnesota returns home to face Penn State on Sunday at Williams Arena.
Gopher Basketball Blog Writer: Michael Rietmulder
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