Minnesota keeps Iowa winless in Big Ten

Trevor Mbakwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Ralph Sampson III matched his career high with seven blocked shots to help Minnesota beat Iowa 69-59 on Sunday night.

Sampson scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists for the Gophers (14-4, 3-3 Big Ten), who survived some lapses and avoided a costly defeat at home against one of the conference's few struggling teams. Al Nolen had 13 points and eight rebounds, including two critical 3-pointers in the second half and a 7-for-8 performance at the free-throw line.

Melsahn Basabe led the Hawkeyes (7-10, 0-5) with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric May added 16 points. Matt Gatens finished with 13 points, including a 3-pointer at the two-minute mark that brought Iowa within 62-55, but the junior guard was 5 for 21 from the field — 3 for 10 from behind the arc.

Despite trailing 30-19 at halftime, Iowa scored the first nine points of the second half to cut the gap to two at 30-28 with 17:33 to play and eventually took the lead at 15:20 on 3-pointer by freshman Melsahn Basabe, 35-34.

Iowa extended its lead to three at 40-37 with 14:00 to play, but one of Nolen's 3-pointers 23 seconds later tied the contest before two Austin Hollins free throws put the Gophers back ahead, 42-40. Minnesota used a 14-4 run over the next 8:17 to increase their lead to 12 points at 56-44 with 4:45 remaining behind six points from Mbakwe.

Iowa came within six at 63-57 with 1:45 left on the clock, but two Nolen free throws kept the game out of reach for the Hawkeyes.

— The University of Minnesota contributed to this report