Murray has 24 points, 15 boards; Iowa beats Minnesota 71-59
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- — Keegan Murray had 24 points and 15 rebounds, Patrick McCaffery added 18 points and seven boards and Iowa used a big second-half run to beat Minnesota 71-59 on Sunday night.
Murray and McCaffery combined to shoot 17 of 32 from the field, while the rest of the team shot just 36% (12 of 33).
Iowa (14-7, 4-6 Big Ten), which went into the game No. 3 nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 8.9, committed six. The Hawkeyes scored 21 points off 12 Minnesota turnovers.
Payton Willis hit a 3-pointer and Luke Loewe added two more in a 110-second span to give Minnesota a 52-47 lead with 15 minutes to play, but the Golden Gophers made just two of their next 16 field-goal attempts. Murray had eight points and Ahron Ulis added seven as Iowa scored 26 of the next 31 before McCaffery hit a 3-pointer to give Iowa its biggest lead of the game at 71-53 with 3:33 remaining.
McCaffrey made a layup to start the decisive spurt, Murray followed with another and the Iowa defense forced back-to-back shot-clock violations. Murray sank a 3-pointer to give the Hawkeyes the lead for good. Filip Rebraca scored in the paint to make it 51-47 with 12:28 to play.
Minnesota (11-9, 2-9) has lost four in a row and eight of its last nine.
Loewe made 7 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and finished with 19 points for the Gophers. Willis added 16 points and eight rebounds.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery missed the game after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and third-year assistant Billy Taylor served as acting head coach.
Minnesota plays Wednesday at Nebraska. Iowa plays Thursday at Maryland.
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Game Information
- Referees:
- Chris Beaver
- Bo Boroski
- Brandon Cruz
2023-24 Big Ten Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Purdue | 17-3 | - | 34-5 |
Illinois | 14-6 | 3 | 29-9 |
Nebraska | 12-8 | 5 | 23-11 |
Northwestern | 12-8 | 5 | 22-12 |
Wisconsin | 11-9 | 6 | 22-14 |
Indiana | 10-10 | 7 | 19-14 |
Michigan State | 10-10 | 7 | 20-15 |
Iowa | 10-10 | 7 | 19-15 |
Ohio State | 9-11 | 8 | 22-14 |
Minnesota | 9-11 | 8 | 19-15 |
Penn State | 9-11 | 8 | 16-17 |
Maryland | 7-13 | 10 | 16-17 |
Rutgers | 7-13 | 10 | 15-17 |
Michigan | 3-17 | 14 | 8-24 |