Fun Facts: Minnesota-Iowa

Are basketball statistics really fun facts? It's in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

Me, I'd rather have stuff like this:

Minnesota is a province of Canada.

But I can't, because it's the 'Facts” part of it that makes this restrictive. So on with the Fun Facts:

1. The last two Minnesota-Iowa games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena were 21-point Hawkeye victories.

2. Iowa was the 2013 NIT runner-up. Minnesota was the 2014 NIT champion. Unless they have a great run between now and March 15, the Gophers will be able to defend their NIT title.

3. The 64.3 percent Iowa shot from the field against Maryland Sunday was its highest percentage in a game since 2004.

4. The Hawkeyes have made 63.4 percent of their shots over the last two games, an Iowa-best for consecutive Big Ten games since 1988.

5. Iowa has 80 points in the paint over the last two games. The 'paint,” is the free throw lane. Technically, it would be from the paint, not in the paint.

6. Minnesota is 0-5 on the road in the Big Ten, but four of those games were determined by five points or less.

7. The Gophers are second in the nation in steals, with 10.8 per game. Minnesota's Carlos Morris had eight steals against Wake Forest. Only three Division I players have had more steals in a game this season. He had five steals in his last game, a home win against Purdue last Saturday. DeAndre Mathieu, Morris and Nate Mason of the Gophers are 1-2-3 in the Big Ten in steals, and Maurice Walker is eighth.

8. Minnesota is 4-7 in the Big Ten, but has outscored its conference foes, 727-721. Iowa is 6-4 in the Big Ten, and has outscored its league opponents, 674-673.

9. The Iowa Wild have the worst record in the 30-team American Hockey League. The Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League had a 6-game winning streak snapped Tuesday by the Winnipeg Jets. The Minnesota Wild is a co-owner of the Iowa Wild.

10. Former Iowa players Melsahn Basabe and Matt Gatens are getting it done overseas. Basabe, a first-year pro, is averaging 19 points and 12.6 rebounds for the Helsinki Seagulls in Finland. Gatens scored 21 points in his most-recent game for TED Kolejliler in Turkey.

11. Iowa center Adam Woodbury is from Sioux City, the county seat of Woodbury County. There is a city in Minnesota called Woodbury. It's a suburb of St. Paul.

Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com