Hawkeye men fall for third-straight time, 72-67 to Minnesota at Carver

IOWA CITY — The Iowa men’s basketball team lost for the third time in eight days, falling 72-67 to Minnesota Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes dropped to 3-5 in the Big Ten, 12-7 overall. Minnesota is 2-6, 10-9.

Minnesota led the entire second half, going from four points ahead at halftime to a 63-46 advantage with 6:17 left.

Iowa clawed back to within 70-67 with 10.8 seconds remaining and Seydou Traore at the foul line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end, Minnesota rebounded, and Frank Mitchell made two free throws to ice it for the Gophers. Mitchell had been 4-of-11 from the line this season.

Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman had 21 points each for Iowa, which lost a conference home game for the first time this season. Dawson Garcia scored 20 for Minnesota.

Iowa was 3-of-21 from 3-point distance.

The first half ended with Minnesota ahead 32-28. It was 8-8 with 13:37 left, but the Gophers had a 21-10 lead less than five minutes later. The Hawkeyes went on a 12-2 run to tighten things up.

The Hawkeyes missed all seven of their 3-pointers in the half. All but four of their first-half points were scored in the paint.

Iowa’s next game is at home Friday at 8 p.m. against Penn State (3-5, 13-6).

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