IOWA CITY – With 19 seconds to go, the Gophers men's basketball team had found itself once again in that familiar place.
After Nate Mason missed one of two free throws, Iowa got the rebound and — down by three after charging back from a double-digit deficit — had another chance.
But as Hawkeyes point guard Mike Gesell came off the screen and drove into the lane, senior Gophers center Mo Walker attacked, swiping the ball and getting fouled. He sank both free throws, and the Gophers held off Iowa 64-59 for their first Big Ten Conference road victory in nearly a year and their first victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2011.
"A younger guy may be scared to make that play on the ball," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. "To do that and to hit those free throws, that was big."
Two weeks ago, the Gophers (16-9, 5-7 Big Ten) looked lost. Now, after three consecutive victories and four in five games, they find themselves in about the same position as they were a year ago, when they fell just off the NCAA bubble and won the NIT instead.
On Thursday night, they Âstarted a five-game stretch that includes four road trips with another strong defensive performance: mixing up man-to-man and zone defenses, and holding an Iowa team with a huge size advantage to 19 points in the first half and forcing 16 turnovers while committing only six.
"We know we're as good as all the teams in the Big Ten. It just takes stops," senior guard Andre Hollins said. "We've just got to separate ourselves with defense."
The Gophers have now also won back-to-back games decided by five points or fewer, after losing their first six games that close. This time, they used seven points from Mason to fuel a 12-2 run that had the Gophers up 11 points with 2 minutes, 48 seconds to play.
That lead was down to 57-50 when Mason went to the free-throw line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end, dropping him to 0-for-3 from the line on the night, and the Gophers got foul-happy from there. They sent the Hawkeyes (15-9, 6-5) to the line seven times in the final 86 seconds. Iowa made all seven, including four from Peter Jok in a 17-second span.
"We kept fouling, and they kept hitting free throws," Pitino said.
The Gophers also got sloppy, with two turnovers in the final 1:23. On the second one, Jarrod Uthoff (17 points, seven rebounds) stole an inbounds pass and flipped it to Aaron White (13 points, eight rebounds) for a dunk with 55 seconds left, putting Iowa back within 59-56.
Hollins — once again the leader with 20 points, three rebounds and three assists — hit a pair of free throws, but forward Charles Buggs, starting over Carlos Morris for the second time in his career, fouled Uthoff shooting behind the three-point line. Uthoff made all three free throws, making the Gophers' lead 61-59, and Mason then followed with his 1-for-2 trip to the line, setting up the final sequence.
Other than that foul, Buggs — whom Pitino said he will stick with in the starting lineup at Indiana on Sunday — had some solid moments, finishing with seven points, four rebounds and two steals. Mason scored 12 points, although he went 3-for-7 from the line.
"He's still learning. He's still young," Walker said. "He's going to make mistakes. I just told him don't worry about it."
