Minnesota Humbled In 94-73 Loss To Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 10-point win over Ohio State on Thursday had Minnesota feeling pretty good.
Maybe too good if Sunday's blowout loss at Iowa was any indication.
Aaron White scored all of his 18 points in the second half and Josh Oglesby added a season-high 17 points as 14th-ranked Iowa blew past Minnesota 94-73 on Sunday.
Devyn Marble had 15 of his 16 points after halftime for the surging Hawkeyes, who moved into third place in the Big Ten behind Michigan State and Michigan.
Iowa (15-3, 4-1 Big Ten) overcame a 10-point deficit with a 29-10 run and outscored the Gophers 53-30 in the second half.
"I thought I sensed that we were losing that underdog mentality that we've had all year," Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said. "Maybe when we beat Ohio State, we started feeling it a bit too much."
Andre Hollins had a game-high 20 points for Minnesota (14-5, 3-3). But Iowa held Hollins without a field goal in the second half in handing the Gophers their most lopsided loss of the season.
"They just decided to shut him down," Pitino said of Hollins. "Our offense wasn't the issue. It was absolutely our defense."
Last season, Iowa used a 37-10 run to erase a 16-point deficit and blow past the Gophers in Iowa City.
On Sunday, the Hawkeyes outscored the Gophers by 19 points in just 6 ½ minutes to notch their 20th straight home win — one shy of the Carver-Hawkeye Arena record.
An 11-0 run helped put Minnesota ahead 43-33 late in the first half, but Oglesby hit back-to-back 3s as the Hawkeyes got the deficit down to 2 by halftime.
"Josh was obviously really, really good in that period. We went to him, and he was on fire. But we also got a few stops. That gave us great momentum, and then you're sitting there at halftime and you're thinking 'OK, we're down two, but Marble and White have one point,'" Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.
That wouldn't last.
Marble caught got rolling, scoring 14 points in the opening 8:41 of the second half to help Iowa take a 71-59 lead with 11:19 left.
White's 3-point play with 4:35 left was a back-breaker for the Gophers, who missed all eight of their 3-point tries in the second half
Austin Hollins had 13 for the Gophers, who came to Iowa City on a roll.
After pushing league leaders Michigan State to overtime in East Lansing, Minnesota beat No. 11 Ohio State 63-53 on Thursday for its third win in four games.
The Gophers started strong in this one too, keeping Marble and White scoreless for nearly 18 minutes in the first half. But Oglesby capped a brilliant half with an off-balance 25-footer that pulled the Hawkeyes within 43-41.
Oglesby, who missed the first 12 games with a foot injury, had 14 first-half points to keep the Hawkeyes in the game.
Iowa had a week off after a program-defining upset at Ohio State, which was likely a big reason why it looked so sluggish in the first 20 minutes. But Marble opened the second half with his first basket of the day and followed with a pair of 3s, waking up a sellout crowd and putting the Hawkeyes ahead 52-46.
Iowa is now a game back of Michigan for second place in the league — but it won't have to wait long for a shot at the Wolverines. Michigan hosts the Hawkeyes on Wednesday.
Minnesota has a chance to answer for its biggest loss of the year on Wednesday when it hosts Wisconsin.
"We were certainly humbled — and maybe we needed it," Pitino said.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
