It was slow, boring, brutal to watch, excruciatingly painful, unrecognizable as basketball since 1920, but it was a win. In a dreadfully stereotypical Big Ten game, the Gophers won 52-49 to improve to 14-1 and 2-1 in the Big Ten.

In short, it was a game at Iowa. Its hard to believe that Iowa used to be one of the highest scoring offenses in the country. Now, you'd have to long and hard to find anything resembling offense. Thursday's game was the second time this season that Iowa failed to crack the half century mark, and the eighth game they have held an opponents to 55 or fewer points. Minnesota's 52 points might as well be considered an offensive explosion. Last season, a much worse Iowa team held then #20 Michigan State to 36 points, and somehow only won by seven. Minnesota's win may have set basketball back to the pre-raised floor era Williams Arena, but it pushed them towards an NCAA tournament appearance.

Original Story: http://fromthebarn.org/2009/01/09/a-w...