Iowa beats Minnesota 86-77 to make Fran McCaffery the winningest coach in program history

MINNEAPOLIS -- — Ben Krikke scored 25 points, Josh Dix, who got the start in place of an injured Patrick McCaffery, added 21 points and Iowa beat Minnesota 86-77 on Monday night to make Fran McCaffery the winningest coach in program history.

Fran McCaffery, who is in his 28th season as a head coach and 14th at Iowa, won his 272nd game as a Hawkeye, passing Dr. Tom Davis (1986-99) for the most victories in program history. On Jan. 6, McCaffery won his 127th career Big Ten game to move past Davis for the most league victories.

Dix scored eight straight Iowa points, capped by a pullup jumper with 7:07 left for a 67-56 lead. Minnesota got as close as five points from there, but Owen Freeman’s dunk and subsequent free throw pushed Iowa’s advantage to 78-67 with 1:27 remaining.

Tony Perkins added 13 points and Freeman had 12 points and eight rebounds for Iowa (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten). McCaffery did not play due to an ankle injury.

Dawson Garcia scored 30 points for Minnesota (12-5, 3-3). Joshua Ola-Joseph added 15 points and Cam Christie scored 12.

Iowa won its third straight game in Minneapolis for the first time since 1954-56.

Former Iowa star Luka Garza, the national player of the year in 2021, sat behind the Hawkeye bench. Garza, now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is the school’s men’s leader in scoring at 2,306 points. Caitlin Clark became Iowa’s all-time career scoring leader on Sunday with 2,813 points.

Iowa returns home to play No. 2 Purdue on Saturday. Minnesota goes on the road to play Michigan State on Thursday.

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