Late in the first half Sunday, Gophers basketball faithful watched in frustration as Iowa's Filip Rebraca beat his chest and pointed to the Williams Arena court as if his team owned the place after a steal and emphatic dunk.
Rebraca, a North Dakota transfer, was playing in his first border battle, but he seemed to have a sense early, as fans witnessed, that this would probably not be a competitive rivalry game.
First-year coach Ben Johnson's Gophers trailed by as many as 23 points — down two assistants and four players due to injuries, illness and COVID-19 protocols — but they clawed back to make it interesting in an 81-71 loss to the Hawkeyes in front of announced crowd of 10,925.
The Gophers (10-5, 1-5 Big Ten), who went on a 31-11 run in the second half, announced before the game that players Eric Curry, Sean Sutherlin, Danny Ogele and Joey Kern would not play.
"There was going to be something that was going to allow us to make it a game," Johnson told his players during shootaround. "That was kind of their sole focus. They're a determined group. I think they've done a good job of finding ways to compete."
After trailing 63-40 with just under 12 minutes left, the Gophers went to a 2-3 zone defense and found confidence offensively to eventually pull within 74-71 with 1:29 to play after Jamison Battle's fourth three-pointer.
"Going on a run and hearing the Barn get loud is something that we've been waiting for this whole season," said Battle, who finished with 20 points.
It actually seemed as if the depleted Gophers might pull off the upset, but Keegan Murray ended a near 5½-minute Iowa scoring drought with a three. The Hawkeyes, who finished the game on a 7-0 run, got 25 points from Murray, the nation's leading scorer.
