Men's Basketball Breakdown: Iowa vs. Minnesota
Breaking down Sunday's men's basketball game between Iowa and Minnesota
Game facts
Time and place — 12:01 p.m. (CST), Williams Arena, Minneapolis
TV — FS1 (Brandon Gaudin, play-by-play; Tim Miles, analyst)
Radio — Hawkeye Radio Network
Records — Iowa 17-8 (8-6 Big Ten), Minnesota 12-11 (6-7)
Rankings — Iowa is No. 17 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press poll.
Series — Minnesota leads, 106-96.
Earlier this season — Iowa defeated Minnesota, 72-52, on Dec. 9 in Iowa City.
The lineups
Iowa — Joe Wieskamp (F, 6-6, Soph., 15.4 ppg.), Ryan Kriener (F, 6-10, Sr., 7.2 ppg.), Luka Garza (C, 6-11, Jr., 23.7 ppg.), Joe Toussaint (G, 6-0, Fr., 6.6 ppg.), Connor McCaffery (G, 6-5, Soph., 6 ppg.)
Minnesota — Alihan Demir (F, 6-9, Sr., 7.4 ppg.), Daniel Oturu (C, 6-10, Soph., 20.1 ppg.), Marcus Carr (G, 6-2, Soph., 15.7 ppg.), Payton Willis (G, 6-5, Jr., 9.2 ppg.), Gabe Kalscheur (G, 6-4, Soph., 11.7 ppg.)
What to watch
The Hawkeyes likely will have to play this one without guard CJ Fredrick, who went down with an ankle sprain in Thursday's loss at Indiana.
Iowa went 1-1 without Fredrick earlier this season when he was out with a stress reaction in his foot, and it's hard to tell how long he'll be out with this injury.
That's going to put more pressure on Iowa's offense, especially if the Gophers defend the Hawkeyes the way the Hoosiers did — let Garza get his points, but keep Wieskamp limited. It's also what Nebraska did earlier this season when Fredrick was out, and it worked.
The difference is, the Gophers have someone who can cause Garza problems in Oturu, who is averaging 20.1 points and 11.5 rebounds. Oturu had 22 points and 12 rebounds against Iowa earlier this season, and Garza had 21 and 10 on that night.
Wieskamp will need to get off to a quick start, and the Hawkeyes are going to need contributions from everyone else. This isn't going to be a game when someone can disappear.
