The Iowa Hawkeyes (15-9, 7-6) head to Minneapolis to take on the rebuilding Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-15, 1-11) at The Barn. It’s not a must win game for Iowa but a simply-cannot-lose game if they hope to be comfortably in the NCAA Tournament in a month.

The Goofers are historically bad and led by first time head coach Ben Johnson. It’s his second season and the dropoff is even more stark than Richard Pitino’s last to Johnson’s first where they finished 13-17 to Little Richard’s 14-15 and held water as a top 100ish team.

That’s gone as the floor has fallen out from under them (just 17.3% continuity) and their KenPom page features a whole lot of red. How much is Johnson vs. the players? Well, Minnesota is literally the worst team in college basketball at shooting free throws (60.9%) so that answers my question.

Nothing more to editorialize other than...Iowa’s played four worse offenses, per KenPom, and it hasn’t been a guaranteed win. Thanks Eastern Illinois. The Gophers can score, if only because they’re playing the second worst defense in conference play. The worst defense is Minnesota.

Worth noting, though, Dawson Garcia is their leading scorer & rebounder but has missed the last four games with an injury and looks unlikely to play this afternoon.

About the Golden Gophers

Season averages: Team / Opponent

PPG: 61.1 / 69.3
RPG: 34.0 / 37.3
APG: 13.5 / 14.4
TOPG: 12.9 / 10.2
FG%: 41.4% / 43.9%
3P%: 30.0% / 35.5%

Coach:

Ben Johnson: 2nd season at Minnesota, second overall
Record: 20-32 (.385) at Minnesota

Statistical Leaders:

PPG: Dawson Garcia 14.9, Jamison Battle 12.6
RPG: Garcia 6.3 (1.6 ORPG), Pharrel Payne 4.6 (1.3 ORPG)
APG: Ta’Lon Cooper 5.6, Garcia 1.8
FG%: Payne 66.7%, Joshua Ola-Joseph 51.1%
3P%: Cooper 39.5%, Garcia 32.3%

Most recent starters ($) & 2022-23 stats:

G - #0 Taurus Samuels, 5th year, 6’1”, 195 lbs: 2.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 27.0% FG, 20.7 MPG
G - #55 Ta’Lon Cooper, Jr, 6’4”, 195 lbs: 10.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.6 APG, 41.1% FG, 39.5% 3P, 35.9 MPG
F - #1 Joshua Ola-Joseph, Fr, 6’7”, 215 lbs: 7.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 51.1% FG, 21.5 MPG
F - #10 Jamison Battle, Jr, 6’7”, 220 lbs: 12.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.6 APG, 36.8% FG, 29.9% 3P, 34.7 MPG
F - #21 Pharrel Payne, Fr, 6’9”, 255 lbs: 7.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 66.7% FG, 22.6 MPG

Last 5 games:

L - v Maryland, 81-46 (2/4)
L - at Rutgers, 90-55 (2/1)
L - at Northwestern, 81-61 (1/28)
L - v Indiana, 61-57 (1/25)
L - at Michigan, 60-56 (1/22)

2023 KenPom: ($)
AdjEfficiency: -4.01 (222)
AdjOffense: 99.9 (277)
AdjDefense: 103.9 (149)
AdjTempo: 65.1 (291)

2022:

AdjEfficiency: +5.18 (109)
AdjOffense: 107.1 (93)
AdjDefense: 101.9 (153)
AdjTempo: 65.1 (285)

NET: 239

Bart Torvik: 231

Evan Miyakawa: 235

How to Watch

Date: Sunday, February 12th
Time: 12:01p CT
Opponent: Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-15, 1-11); Big Ten Conference; Minneapolis, MN
Location: Williams Arena; Minneapolis, MN
Gambling (by DraftKings): Iowa -12 | -725 at Minnesota +490 | O/U 146.5
TV: FS1 (Brandon Gaudin & Devin Harris)
Radio: Hawkeye Sports Network (Gary Dolphin & Bob Hansen)
Streaming: Fox Sports Live

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Play nice in the comments.