Minnesota will target its fourth win in a row when it travels to Iowa for a Big Ten showdown on Sunday afternoon in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Golden Gophers (15-7, 6-5 Big Ten) are coming off an emotional 59-56 win on their home court against Michigan State on Tuesday night. That followed an overtime win against Northwestern at home and a comeback win on the road against Penn State.
One year after going 9-22 and finishing at the bottom of the Big Ten, Minnesota is surging.
“Don’t kid yourself,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That’s a good basketball team.”
Minnesota will try to avoid a letdown at Iowa (13-10, 5-7), which is looking to bounce back from an 89-79 loss at Penn State on Thursday night. The Hawkeyes have lost two of their last three and four of their last six, but there is time to turn around their fortunes with eight conference games to go.
Tony Perkins leads Iowa with 15.5 points per game on 47.5-percent shooting. Ben Krikke also has been a reliable scorer, averaging 15.0 points on 53.9-percent shooting.