Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-7) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (13-10)
February 11, 2024 3:00 pm EDT
The Line: Iowa Hawkeyes -5.5; Over/Under: 156
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The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes meet Sunday in college basketball action from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Minnesota enters this one at 15-7 so far. The Gophers are coming off a three-point win over Michigan State on Tuesday. As for Iowa, they lost to Penn State in their latest outing, dropping the Hawkeyes to 13-10 so far. Let’s get into our Minnesota vs. Iowa prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers only lost to Missouri, San Francisco and Ohio State during a nice 12-3 run to start the season. Minnesota would then fall in four straight to Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Wisconsin before three straight wins over Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan State.
In the Michigan State game on Tuesday, the Gophers faced a 32-27 deficit going into the second half. Minnesota came back with a 32-24 run from there, eventually pulling off the victory 59-56. Cam Christie was tops in scoring with 19 points, six rebounds and one assist.
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Iowa Hawkeyes
Over on the Iowa side, they lost to Creighton, Oklahoma, Purdue, Iowa State, Michigan and Wisconsin in their first 17 outings. The Hawkeyes have since gone just 2-4 with losses to Purdue, Maryland, Indiana and Penn State alongside wins over Michigan and Ohio State.
Back on Thursday in the Penn State matchup, the Hawkeyes were outscored 42-34 in the first half. Iowa didn’t end up getting any closer on a 47-45 second and took the loss 89-79. Ben Krikke led the team in the losing effort with 22 points, five rebounds and a steal.
ANDREW’S FREE MINNESOTA VS IOWA PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on Minnesota. This should be a pretty good matchup, though. The Gophers will have to sharpen up a bit after the closer win over Michigan State. In that one Minnesota shot 43.2 percent from the field with 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from the line and 11 turnovers. In three of the last five games, the Gophers have been below 67 points. The offense is going to need a bit of a kick here.
The last time these teams met back on January 15, Iowa secured an 86-77 road victory. Both teams shot quite well from the field (over 48.2 percent) but not so well from outside (below 23.2 percent) in a game featuring 23 combined turnovers. If Minnesota can find a scoring rhythm early I think they can hang around, but you wouldn’t be crazy for taking Iowa either.
