Iowa had their chances at the end after clawing their way back from a double digit deficit. They had three quality looks.
Trailing by three, the Hawkeyes dribbled the ball down the court with time running out. Bennett Stirtz pulled up for three and missed. Cam Manyawu grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Brendan Hausen, who missed a three. Manyawu pulled down another offensive rebound and found Stirtz wide open at the top of the key for a game-tying three as time expired.
His shot bounced off the front iron and fell harmlessly to the Williams Arena court as Gopher fans stormed the floor to celebrate a 70-67 win. Iowa came so close to an incredible comeback victory after trailing by 14 with six and a half minutes to play.
Kael Combs and Isaia Howard were the only reasons this game didn’t get out of hand in the first half. They were the two Hawkeyes with a scoring touch in the first 20 minutes, and Iowa only trailed by seven at the half because of them. Combs would finish the game with a career-high 14 points on 6-10 shooting from the field, while Howard pitched in ten points off the bench on 5-13 shooting.
Iowa Head Coach Ben McCullum commented “I didn’t think that we showed up ready to play. Once we actually decided we wanted to compete, and I thought [Minnesota] had a lot to do with that though. It wasn’t just our ineptitude. I thought that [Minnesota] asserted themselves from a physical perspective.
In the second half we started to go. We have to find a way to get to the free throw line. I don’t know why we don’t get there, but we put people there a lot and I need to do a better job coaching to that. I thought we turned it over a little too much, but we just didn’t play our best basketball, and that’s disappointing, but [Minnesota] had a lot to do with that though.”
The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday, hosting No. 16 Illinois at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be on KWPC, AM 860 and FM 95.1. Hawkeye coverage is brought to you by Biaggi’s, Muscatine Power and Water, Meineke Muffler, Community Health Care Dental Clinic and Ed Morse Chevy, Buick and GMC.
