Gophers at a glance: No. 23 Minnesota (16-5, 4-4 Big Ten) took a first step to getting back on the right track after resoundingly beating Nebraska on Tuesday, but maintaining that momentum will be critical. Rodney Williams -- who had struggled through much of the Big Ten schedule -- came out of his own slump with intensity, setting a personal Big Ten scoring high with 23 points. The Gophers shot 54.2 percent from the floor and rebounded well, but perhaps most importantly continued the recent positive ballhandling trend. In the last two games, the Gophers have limited turnovers to single digits (including a season-low of six against Nebraska), a marked improvement from their average of 14. The Gophers bench picked up as well, scoring 23 points in the 84-65 victory after getting a total of only 17 in the previous two games.

Iowa at a glance: The Hawkeyes (14-7, 3-5) haven't exactly had it easy at the start, with their first four losses in the Big Ten all coming to ranked teams, then losing their fifth after Purdue took a game to overtime. But there is still promise for this young squad. The Hawkeyes' leading scorer is sophomore Aaron White (14 points, six rebounds), but they rely on him quite a bit. Coming into Saturday, the Hawkeyes are 8-1 when White scores 16 points or more. In Thursday's victory over Penn State, White reached a career-high of 27 after being moved from power forward to small forward, as Melsahn Basabe -- who has been excellent -- was moved into the starting lineup for the first time this season. Basabe has averaged 9.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in his past five games.

AMELIA RAYNO