Garcia scores 20 points, Odukale adds 18 to help Minnesota push past Iowa 72-67

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Dawson Garcia scored 20 points, Femi Odukale added 18 and Minnesota held off Iowa for a 72-67 victory on Tuesday night.

Minnesota led by double digits for most of the second half until Owen Freeman scored six points during Iowa’s 13-3 run to cut the deficit to 70-67 with 30 seconds left. Garcia missed two free throws on the next possession, but Seydou Traore then missed at the line for Iowa. Frank Mitchell made a pair of free throws to seal it for Minnesota.

Minnesota (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten), which beat then-No. 20 Michigan 84-81 in overtime on Thursday, has won consecutive games since snapping a four-game losing streak.

Payton Sandfort scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Iowa (12-7, 3-5), which has lost three straight. Freeman also had 21 points to go with eight rebounds. Traore finished with 11 points.

Garcia scored seven points in a 14-3 run to open the second half to stretch Minnesota’s lead to 45-31 with 14:23 remaining. A pair of Garcia free throws gave the Golden Gophers a 17-point advantage, 63-46, with 6:15 left. It was their largest lead of the game.

Iowa hosts Penn State on Friday.

Minnesota is at home against No. 15 Oregon on Saturday.

__ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.