IOWA CITY – Iowa extended its home court winning streak to 20 games with a victory over the surging Minnesota Golden Gophers Sunday at a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Josh Oglesby netted a season-high 17 points on 5-7 shooting from three-point range to keep the Hawkeyes close in a tight first half which saw the Hawkeyes go into the break trailing by two.
Speaking of the frenetic first half, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said “it was kind of back and forth, up two, down two, and a couple of crazy plays happened in a row. To their credit, they converted and they went up, what, seven or nine, ten. So we had to get it shortened a little bit. We did not want to go in at halftime with that kind of deficit.”
Five Hawkeyes scored in double figures. They include Aaron White (18), Josh Oglesby (17), Devyn Marble (16), Gabe Olaseni (12), and Mike Gesell (11).
McCaffery said the final score showed how his team pulled away.
“It was a much closer game, I think, than the score would indicate.”
Iowa (15-3, 4-1 Big Ten) overcame a 10-point deficit with a 29-10 run and finished the game by outscoring the Gophers 61-30.
This is the sixth time Iowa has scored 90+ points this season.
Iowa next prepares for a game on the road this week at Michigan.
“If you can’t get up to play against Michigan, then come on, there’s something wrong with you,” Coach McCaffery said. “You’re at Michigan, they’re in the national championship game last year, they’re undefeated in our league. That should be enough.”