Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball

Hawkeye Basketball Quick Preview: Iowa at Minnesota

Can Iowa get a road win without sharpshooter CJ Fred?

By JPinIC@JPinIC_BHGP Feb 15, 2020, 8:00am CST

NCAA Basketball: Michigan State at Minnesota — Luka Garza got the best of Daniel Oturu in the first matchup between Iowa and Minnesota.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are reeling after another tough road loss at Indiana on Thursday night. Not only did the Hawkeyes lose a quad one matchup, they lost their best shooter when CJ Fredrick went down with an ankle injury. Now the already severely short handed Hawkeyes will be forced to play with an even shorter bench as they look to complete the season sweep of Minnesota.

The Gophers are playing each game for their NCAA Tournament lives at this point. While they’re just over .500 for the season, the advanced analytics like Minnesota and their NET ranking has them squarely on the bubble. But they’ll need to win a number of games down the stretch for that to matter.

A big part of that will be Star big man Daniel Oturu. While Hawkeye fans are well aware of what Luka Garza has done this season, Oturu comes in second in the league in scoring and is the Big Ten’s leading rebounder and shot blocker. Garza bested Oturu in the first meeting, can he repeat the early-December performance? Can Iowa get their first road win in over a month? Can the Hawkeyes get their first road win all year without CJ Fredrick in the lineup?

Here’s your quick look at the matchup between Iowa and the Golden Gophers.

Who: #21 Iowa Hawkeyes (17-8, 8-6) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-11, 6-7)
When: 12:00 pm CT
Where: Williams Arena - Minneapolis, MN
TV: FS1
Prior Matchup: Takeaways from Iowa basketball’s win over Minnesota