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Gophers try to bury Hawkeyes in Iowa City

Thu 8th, January 2009

Iowa City, IA (Sports Network) - The Iowa Hawkeyes play host to the 22nd- ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers in a Big Ten Conference clash tonight in Iowa City.

Tubby Smith has clearly turned the Minnesota program around, as his team has won 13 of its first 14 games to open the 2008-09 season. The Golden Gophers finally lost a game, to Michigan State, after winning 12 in a row to open the campaign, and they bounced back strong from that setback with a 68-59 decision over Ohio State this past Saturday. Sure, many of the victories have come over weak non-conference foes, but the team is clearly confident and has a chance to make some noise in the wide open Big Ten this year.

As for Iowa, it carries a 9-0 home record into this evening's clash. The Hawkeyes, who are 11-4 overall, are coming off a 65-60 triumph over Indiana on Saturday. They are now an even 1-1 in conference after falling to Ohio State in the opener by three points.

Minnesota owns a 95-88 series lead over Iowa.

Minnesota is scoring 73.1 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 62.0 ppg on 38.5 percent shooting from the floor. Lawrence Westbrook is netting 13.0 ppg to pace the Golden Gophers, who are getting 10.1 ppg from Damian Johnson. In the victory over Ohio State last time out, Minnesota owned a 10-point lead at intermission despite shooting only 36.1 percent from the floor in the first half. Over the final 20 minutes, the Golden Gophers got off 13 fewer field goal attempts, but they were able to knock down 52.2 percent of those second- half tries to complement an 8-of-9 effort from the charity stripe in the frame. A 42-30 rebounding advantage clearly played a significant role in the triumph. Westbrook finished with 15 points in that clash, and Johnson contributed a dozen.

In the five-point victory over Indiana on Saturday, Iowa got 22 points and 11 rebounds from Cyrus Tate, as he connected on all six of his field goal attempts and 10-of-11 free throws. Jeff Peterson pitched in 16 points and five assists, while Jake Kelly contributed 10 points. The Hawkeyes shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the first half and earned a six-point lead at intermission. They weren't quite as impressive over the final 20 minutes but did enough to hold off the Hoosiers. Anthony Tucker, who is averaging a team- high 11.8 ppg for Iowa this season, missed the Indiana game for disciplinary reasons, and his status for this evening's tilt is unclear. Matt Gatens is netting 10.7 ppg for the Hawkeyes, who are getting 10.1 ppg from Peterson.