University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Iowa
Gophers Lose First Home Game, Fall to Iowa 64-62
1/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2012
Photo Gallery | Postgame Quotes | Boxscore 
MINNEAPOLIS - Things looked to be going Minnesota's way late in the first half of its home-opening Big Ten game versus Iowa on Wednesday night at Williams Arena. The Gophers led by 11 points with 5:06 remaining, and the momentum was in its favor.
But the Hawkeyes spoiled the fun, closing the half on a 10-0 run to pull within one point at the break, and then utilized a strong start to the second half to build a six-point lead in the first five minutes and eventually fought off a late rally by the Gophers for a 64-62 win.
Matt Gatens keyed the Hawkeyes' rally, scoring 13 of his game-high 19 points after the half, as Iowa defeated the Gophers for the first time since a 91-78 win at Williams Arena on Feb. 7, 2007. For Minnesota (12-4, 0-3), the loss snapped a seven-game winning streak versus Iowa, and the Gophers dropped their first home game in 11 tries this season.
Junior guard Julian Welch led Minnesota with 14 points and six steals, while senior forward Ralph Sampson III had 12 points, and junior forward Rodney Williams added 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his second career double-double.
Minnesota made 26-of-58 (.448) field goals, but struggled from long-range by making just 4-of-23 (.174) three-pointers. Iowa (10-6, 2-1) was 23-of-50 (.460) from the field, also making four treys. But the difference in the game came at the free throw line, where the Hawkeyes outscored the Gophers, 14-6.
The Gophers trailed by eight points with 57 seconds left in the game, but rallied to almost send the game to overtime. After Roy Devyn Marble missed a pair of free throws with eight seconds left, sophomore guard Maverick Ahanmisi took a pass and drove the length of the court, but his bank shot as time expired rolled off the rim.
The teams exchanged leads four times in the first four minutes, with Sampson scoring the Gophers' first four points and Marble adding four points for the Hawkeyes as Minnesota held an 8-7 lead at the first media timeout.
Minnesota stretched its lead to 17-11 with 11:32 remaining in the half by turning three Iowa turnovers into five points, while making eight of its first 11 field goal attempts.
The Hawkeyes (10-6, 2-1) cut Minnesota's advantage to 25-21 on the second three-pointer of the game for Zach McCabe with 6:42 left before the half, but the Gophers answered with a 7-0 run over the next 1:35 to extend the lead to 32-21.
Austin Hollins started the run for the Gophers by tipping in a missed shot, followed by a three-pointer from the left corner by Williams and a layup by Andre Hollins to give Minnesota its largest lead of the half.
But Gatens hit back-to-back three-pointers, keying a 10-0 spurt for the Hawkeyes to narrow the Gophers' halftime lead to a single point, 32-31.
Minnesota made 14-of-26 (.538) field goals in the opening 20 minutes, but missed their final five attempts and were just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes made 4-of-10 three-pointers to overcome seven first half turnovers.
Williams, who led Minnesota with seven points and four rebounds in the first half, made a jumper from the free throw line and Welch added a field goal from the same spot for a 36-31 lead early in the second half.
But Gatens scored seven-straight points to spark an 11-2 run by the Hawkeyes to give them a 42-38 edge with 16:05 left, which forced a timeout by Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith.
Gatens' first field goal of the game didn't take place until 1:06 remaining in the opening half, but the senior from Iowa City made four of his first six field goals after the break and scored 11 points in the first 6:45 of the second stanza.
After Gatens sank a pair of free throws to give Iowa a 48-42 lead, the Gophers quickly cut the lead back to one point, as Ahanmisi made a trey and Williams reached double figures with a highlight-reel putback dunk off a missed shot.
A pair of trips to the line resulted in four points for the Hawkeyes to push their lead back to five points, 52-47, before Welch barely beat the shot clock on a 16-foot jumper to get the Gophers within three with 8:12 left.
After Joe Coleman sliced into the lane and got a short jumper to fall, Iowa's Aaron White beat the Gophers down the court for a dunk and Bryce Cartwright made a pair of free throws to put the Hawkeyes up 58-51.
Welch made his first trifecta in seven attempts to cut it to 58-54, but baskets by Gatens and Marble helped to extend Iowa's lead to 63-55 with 57 seconds left, its largest lead of the night.
That's when Minnesota began its late rally. Welch made a three with an Iowa player in his face to cut it to 64-60 with 32 seconds left. Iowa then fouled Sampson with 13 seconds remaining, and he missed the front end of a one-and-one, but was able to score on a layup after a scramble for the ball.
The Gophers fouled Marble to send him to the line and set up the exciting last play by Ahanmisi, but the ball bounced off to end the Gophers' hopes.
McCabe had 12 points and seven boards for Iowa, while White added 10 points and six caroms and Marble chipped in with nine points. It marked the second-straight Big Ten road win for the Hawkeyes, which upset nationally-ranked Wisconsin at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
Minnesota remains home to play host to Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 8. Tipoff at Williams Arena is set for 5:00 p.m. (CT), and the game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
--By Michael Molde, GopherSports.com
