Iowa City Eyes Minimum Wage Changes: Daily Iowan Reader, Feb. 18

Iowa men’s basketball turns on a dime and buries Minnesota

Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith couldn’t believe it. He sat in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena media room and tried to figure out just what had happened.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen such a dramatic turnaround in such short time, as a coach of any team I’ve ever had,” he said. “This is about as disappointing a loss as I’ve ever had.”

The turnaround Smith referred to was a 37-point swing from the 12:57 mark of the first half to the final buzzer. The Gophers held a 21-5 lead early in the first half, but the Hawkeyes stormed back and outscored Minnesota, 67-30, the rest of the way to grab a 72-51 victory on Sunday.

Sophomore Aaron White said he never had doubts, even when his team was down by so much.

“The funny thing about the game was we’re down, 21-5, the whole time I’m thinking we’re still going to come back and win the game,” White said. “Everyone on the team thought that; that’s why we came back and executed so well.”

The key to that shift in momentum was the Hawkeyes’ defense. Head coach Fran McCaffery made the switch to a press and then to a zone defense, and it continually gave the Gophers fits. Smith said he wasn’t surprised at the comeback, given the way his team performed.

“Anybody can play well if you give them the ball 17 times, and if you don’t take good shots, if you don’t play with patience, with poise,” Smith said. “[The ball] was like a hot potato. ‘Give it to somebody else, somebody else try it.’ That’s what it became.”

The Hawkeyes forced 17 turnovers in the game, including 12 steals. White said the steals were a big factor, but the press was effective even when it wasn’t directly forcing turnovers. 

Read more here.

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