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Iowa-Minnesota Postgame Notes
March 10, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Iowa Historically, the second-seeded team has done very well in the Big Ten tournament (BTT). The No. 2 seed has a 15-4 overall record, and has gone on to win four BTT championships. With its victory vs. Minnesota tonight, Iowa has compiled an 11-7 record in the BTT, a victory total that ranks second only to Illinois (16). The Hawkeyes have a 4-4 record in quarterfinal games and are in the semifinal round for the second consecutive season. Iowa now has a 4-2 record in games played at Conseco Fieldhouse. Tonight was Iowa's 23rd victory of the 2005-06 season, its most since the 2000-01 season when the program also collected 23 wins (12 losses). Hawkeye coach Steve Alford is now 11-5 in BTT games, the best in tournament history. Second best is Tom Izzo's eight victories with Michigan State. Jeff Horner's 26 points tonight marked the third-best single-game effort of his Hawkeye career. He tallied 32 points in a game earlier this season at Purdue and scored 27 points vs. Texas on Nov. 23, 2004. His six three-point field goals tied the BTT single-game record held by four players on five different occasions. Horner now has an Iowa record of 257 three-pointers during his career. Those six treys vs. Minnesota raised his 2005-06 total to 92, tied for second-best all-time on Iowa's single-season list with Luke Recker (2002). The last time a BTT game had opposing players each score 26 points or more points was on March 10, 2001 when Iowa's Reggie Evans scored 30 points and Penn State's Gyasi Cline-Head tallied 26 points. Greg Brunner scored only two points and was held without a single rebound in the first half of the Hawkeye-Gopher game. In the second half, he responded with 14 points, but still did not grab a rebound. Only one other time in his 124-game career was Iowa's all-time leading rebounder held without a single board (vs. Purdue as a freshman). Iowa split its season series with both Illinois and MSU this season, with the Hawkeyes winning against each school at home and losing against each team on the road.
Minnesota Minnesota leads the conference with steals for the season with a total of 244 steals in 2005-06. For the season, the Gophers are 0-2 if tied at the half. With five minutes remaining and trailing Minnesota is 0-11 for a comeback this season. This loss brings its overall record to 15-14. This brings the Gophers overall BTT record to 6-9. Minnesota still leads the all-time series against Iowa with a mark of 90-79 which does not include vacated games. Senior Vincent Grier ended his performance in the BTT with 29 points, his best this season and third best in his career (he scored 32 twice). This brings his season total to 356 points. He also upped his individual stats for a season high of 51 steals, ranking second in the Big Ten. |
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