New Gophers men’s basketball coach Niko Medved remains undefeated at Williams Arena in games against ranked Big Ten foes.
While it’s only two, Tuesday’s win was sweeter than the first.
After knocking off No. 22-ranked Indiana 73-64 in the Big Ten opener on Dec. 3, Minnesota took down rival and 22nd-ranked Iowa 70-67 at home on Tuesday. Fans stormed the court after the upset was complete.
The Hawkeyes, a five-point favorite, had three straight attempts to tie the game with 3-pointers at the buzzer, but all were off the mark.
Gophers (10-5, 3-1 Big Ten) had a game-high 14-point lead with six minutes left, Iowa (12-3, 2-2) stormed back with on a 20-5 run to take a 64-63 lead with 1:14 remaining.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson made a 3-pointer at the top of the key and Bobby Durkin made a pair of free throws to make it 68-64.
Hawkeyes leading scorer Bennett Stirtz — 17.9 points per game — was held scoreless in the first half, but turned it on in the second half.
Stirtz made a trey to cut lead to 68-67. Isaac Asuma made two free throws to extend the lead. Stirtz missed two of the three attempts on the final possession.
Langston Reynolds scored a game-high 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting, including many drives to the basket.
Minnesota led 31-24 at the half behind 10 points apiece from Reynolds and Cade Tyson.
The U defense held the Hawkeyes to 38% shooting from the field in the first half, with Stirtz at 0 for 5 shooting in nine foul-filled minutes.
The Gophers stormed to a 12-3 lead through the opening six minutes, holding the Hawkeyes to 1-for-7 shooting.
Stirtz was being swarmed on ball screens, started 0 for 3 from the field and went to the bench after picking up his second foul with 14:24 left in the half.
Without their leading scorer, the Hawkeyes mounted a comeback and took a 20-16 lead with six minutes left in the half. The Gophers were cold, 0 for 6 from 3-point range and were allowing too many drives for easy buckets at the rum,.
Minnesota ended the period with a 15-4 run to stake a seven-point lead.
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