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No. 14 Iowa uses offensive balance to run past Minnesota

josh oglesby

The No. 14 Iowa Hawkeyes are very deep and very dangerous and they showed off a lot of offensive firepower on Sunday during its 94-73 win over Minnesota in a Big Ten conference home game.

Although the Hawkeyes had zero points from Aaron White in the first half and only a single free throw from Roy Devyn Marble, Josh Ogelsby led a bench group that went 11 deep in the first half as Oglesby had 14 first-half points on the way to 17 for the game as Iowa had five players finish in double-figures for the contest.

It looked like Iowa was in serious trouble in the first half without White and Marble producing as Minnesota used a 13-1 run to take a 43-33 lead with just over a minute left in the first half. But a Mike Gesell finish in traffic and two Oglesby threes led to a quick 8-0 Iowa run as the Hawkeyes only trailed 43-41 at the half and had all of the second-half momentum.

White (18 points, on 4-for-5 field goals and 10-for-11 free throws) and Marble (16 points) both came alive in the second half for Iowa and the Hawkeyes blew past the Gophers with a persistent and consistent offensive attack that included solid overall efforts from point guard Mike Gesell (11 points) and backup center Gabriel Olasani (12 points).

After allowing Andre Hollins to score 18 points in the first half, Iowa’s defense did a great job of face-guarding the junior guard and allowing him only two more points in the second half.

The Hawkeyes just have a lot of weapons on offense and, because they have so many shooters, they can space the floor and have a lot of different players that can make plays.

Iowa is 4-1 in the Big Ten and they’ve had two consecutive games with five players scoring in double figures. The Hawkeyes have a legitimate shot at the Big Ten title if they continue to utilize so many weapons on offense because Iowa is very balanced on and doesn’t have to rely on any one guy to carry them every night.

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