Trevor Mbakwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Ralph Sampson III matched his career high with seven blocked shots to help Minnesota beat Iowa 69-59 on Sunday night.
Sampson scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists for the Gophers (14-4, 3-3 Big Ten), who survived some lapses and avoided a costly defeat at home against one of the conference's few struggling teams. Al Nolen had 13 points and eight rebounds, including two critical 3-pointers in the second half and a 7-for-8 performance at the free-throw line.
Melsahn Basabe led the Hawkeyes (7-10, 0-5) with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric May added 16 points. Matt Gatens finished with 13 points, including a 3-pointer at the two-minute mark that brought Iowa within 62-55, but the junior guard was 5 for 21 from the field — 3 for 10 from behind the arc.
Despite trailing 30-19 at halftime, Iowa scored the first nine points of the second half to cut the gap to two at 30-28 with 17:33 to play and eventually took the lead at 15:20 on 3-pointer by freshman Melsahn Basabe, 35-34.
Iowa extended its lead to three at 40-37 with 14:00 to play, but one of Nolen's 3-pointers 23 seconds later tied the contest before two Austin Hollins free throws put the Gophers back ahead, 42-40. Minnesota used a 14-4 run over the next 8:17 to increase their lead to 12 points at 56-44 with 4:45 remaining behind six points from Mbakwe.
Iowa came within six at 63-57 with 1:45 left on the clock, but two Nolen free throws kept the game out of reach for the Hawkeyes.
— The University of Minnesota contributed to this report
