Golden Gophers at Hawkeyes
Tuesday, January 21st
Tip Time: 8:01 p.m.
Site: Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City
SERIES INFORMATION*
199th Meeting (102-96 all time)
Road Record at Iowa: 39-56
* – excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The University of Minnesota men’s basketball program is back on the road when it travels to Iowa on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Minnesota is 102-96 all-time against the Hawkeyes, dating back to 1902. The Golden Gophers went 0-2 against the Hawkeyes last year, dropping the home and road contest the last time. Minnesota is looking to break a six-game steak against the Hawkeyes and its first win in Carver Hawkeye Arena since 2015. The Gophers’ last win against Iowa came on Dec. 25, 2021, in a 102-95 overtime win.
• The Gophers are looking to string two in a row after winning an 84-81 overtime game against No. 20 Michigan. The win marked the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 11, 2021, when the Gophers defeated then-No. 24 Purdue, 71-68. It also marked head coach Ben Johnson’s first win over a ranked opponent. Dawson Garcia added a game-best 27 points, including a buzzer beater as time expired for the win. It was the first buzzer beater win for the Gophers since March 2023 against Rutgers.
• Dawson Garcia, Lu’Cye Patterson and Mike Mitchell Jr. all had over 20 points in the win. It marked the first time since 2018 that a Gopher trio had accomplished the feat. Garcia had 27, Patterson had 22 and Mitchell Jr. had 20. Patterson had 15 points in the second half alone, while Garcia added 13. It was the first Gopher trio since Nate Mason (25), Dupree McBrayer (24) and Jordan Murphy (22) accomplished it in a 95-84 overtime win over Penn State on Jan. 15, 2018.
• Dawson Garcia added his second 20-point game of the week. He produced a 22-point performance against Maryland last year. He’s had 11 20-point game performances on the season, which is tied for the league lead. Garcia has had 15 double-digit point games and even one 30-point game. Garcia also accomplished his fifth double double of the season Thursday vs. Michigan.
GARCIA IN THE RECORDBOOKS
• Dawson Garcia has scored 1,286 points as a Golden Gopher and 1,781 as a collegiate athlete. That number ranks 20TH in school history (excluding vacated games). His 27 points at Maryland surpassed him over Blake Hoffarber (1,267 points-played from 2007-11), Dusty Rychart (1,268 points-played from 1998-02) and Arriel McDonald (1,273-1990-94).
• Garcia has also established 500 Minnesota rebounds, now sitting at 516. With his numbers, he becomes the 22nd Gopher (excluding vacated games) to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in the maroon and gold.
DOUBLE DOUBLES FOR GARCIA
• In the win over Michigan, Dawson Garcia added his fifth double double of the season. The Savage, Minn., native also had a double-double against Central Michigan (22 points, 11 rebounds), Michigan State (18 points, 11 rebounds), FDU (18 points, 10 rebounds), Wisconsin (22 points, 10 rebounds) and now Michigan (27 points, 12 rebounds). His five double-doubles is the most in a single season, which bettered his four in 2023-24 and three in 2022-23. In all, Garcia has 16 collegiate double-double games. He had three at Marquette (2020-21) and one at North Carolina. His five double-doubles this year are the fastest already in 18 games.
FOX ON THE RUN
Gopher forward Parker Fox (Mahtomedi, MN) spoke with MNN sports director Mike Grimm about tonight’s game:

Parker Fox flexes
SCOUTING IOWA
• The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten) dropped both games in their west coast swing in a 99-89 loss at Southern California and at UCLA, 94-70. The Hawkeyes, however have protected their home court and won all three if their Big Ten games in Iowa City (Northwestern, Nebraska and Indiana).
• The Hawkeyes have four starters averaging double figures with the fifth on the brink. Owen Freeman averages a team-best 16.7 points and 6.4 rebounds. He is followed by Payton Sandfort at 16.2 points and a team-best 47 treys, while Josh Dix averages 14.8 points and shooting 48 percent from three. Drew Thelwell averages 10.4 points, while Brock Harding averages 9.6 and 111 assists.
• As a team, the Hawkeys are averaging 88.4 points and give up 78.4. They are shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 39.7 at the arc. Iowa averages 32.3 rebounds per game.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)