Iowa now sporting 0-5 league mark after 69-59 loss at Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS - This time it wasn't about effort; it was about balance and execution.

After two games of lackluster effort, the Hawkeyes fought on each possession against Minnesota last night. But when Iowa needed a shot or a stop in the clutch, it wasn't to be found.

Minnesota toppled Iowa in the teams' fifth straight meeting, 69-59, at Williams Arena. The Hawkeyes (7-10 overall) now are 0-5 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1917 and just the third time in school history.

At times, Iowa played to its strengths and competed with the Gophers. After trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Hawkeyes went on a 13-2 run to tie the game at 32-32. After the Gophers retook the lead, Eric May hit a 3-pointer to give Iowa its first lead at 35-34. After a Blake Hoffarber layup gave Minnesota back the lead, Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe hit a jumper to push Iowa back ahead.

Minnesota point guard Al Nolen sank 1-of-2 free throws to knot the score at 37-37 before Basabe scored again and added a free throw to give Iowa its largest - and final - lead of the night.

“We had better execution offensively,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We got a couple buckets, and Bryce makes the big steals. We got a few stops and some runouts. I think that was the key. We got some opportunities to get our break going and had some transition opportunities and some easy baskets.”

Minnesota (14-4, 3-3) then took complete control over the game. The Gophers went on a 15-2 run highlighted with a pair of Nolen 3-pointers, five points from guard Austin Hollins and four from power forward Trevor Mbakwe.

Neither Mbakwe nor Hollins started for the Gophers, a fact highlighting the major difference between the teams. Minnesota's reserves scored 25 points, including 16 from Mbakwe. No Iowa reserve scored in the game, missing all six shots.

“We had only four guys score,” McCaffery said. “We need somebody to come off the bench, (Devyn) Marble, (Zach) McCabe, that's why those guys are there. I don't need 15 but six, four, seven, we need that from them.”

Iowa also had problems keeping Minnesota from scoring on second-chance attempts. The Gophers scored 24 points off its 15 offensive rebounds, while Iowa managed just 13 points off its 12 offensive rebounds.

The Hawkeyes did get strong scoring outputs from Basabe and May, both whom had struggled in recent games. Basabe scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. May, who scored only three points in the last three games, finished with 16.

Although it was another loss, both Basabe and Gatens saw improvement.

“Coach was saying (he) felt like even if we didn't get the win - it's not a moral victory - but compared to the last two games we're taking steps forward,” said Gatens, who scored 13. “We're learning and getting better and executing the game plan better than we had been so it's good to see us turn the tide on a few things but we're still not there.”

“We've been through a lot already and I don't think we shot ourselves in the foot with the same bullet like we have been doing in previous games,” Basabe said. “I definitely saw progression in the way we were communicating, but there's still room for improvement.”