No. 19 Iowa men’s basketball prepares for a new wrinkle in fast turnaround ahead of Minnesota

IOWA CITY — There’s one way to learn about playing Big Ten basketball: experiencing it in real time. With only three conference games completed so far, No. 19 Iowa men’s basketball is still learning about it.

Not just the players, but head coach Ben McCollum, too. The Hawkeye leader has found success at every level of collegiate basketball he’s been a part of, there’s no question there. He’s also found ways to transfer what he’s learned at each place, whether it be at the Division II level or a Power Four conference, and apply those skills.

Now, the Hawkeyes are reaching a new challenge in this young era — the lengthy, all-hands-on-deck nature of the Big Ten calendar. The rest of Iowa’s season is simply conference games, filled with ranked opponents and resume builders the whole way through.

That includes Iowa’s game against Minnesota on Tuesday night. It’s the first time the Hawkeyes are playing a Big Ten foe on the road since their conference opener against Michigan State. But just 72 hours before facing Minnesota, Iowa was on the court playing one of its best games of the year in a 74-61 win over UCLA.

The turnaround time is quick, amplifying the intensity of these conference games.

“I think more importantly, the ability to get yourself back up for these games is really tricky,” McCollum said Monday. “It's just the the level of players is a little bit different, and so you have to find some type of niche that you have.”

The Golden Gophers hold the overall advantage over Iowa in its 211-game history, including a five-point win in Iowa City last year. Iowa, however, has won the last three consecutive games in Minnesota as part of a six-game run between the two foes.

Minnesota has also found ways to beat a top 25 team this season, taking down then-No. 22 Indiana last month.

“They also really were still trying to find themselves a little bit. But they beat Indiana. They won at Northwestern, which was really impressive,” McCollum said. “That's a tough place to play. I haven't played there, but my understanding is it’s very difficult to play anywhere in the Big Ten.”

McCollum said what’s impressed him watching film from Minnesota is their “Princeton-style offense” that can be difficult to manage, and the Golden Gophers’ ability to take away shooting lanes.

Minnesota is allowing just 65.7 points per game, but Iowa is second in the conference in field goal percentage. Minnesota has three players averaging double figures (Cade Tyson, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Isaac Asuma), but Iowa has just one in Bennett Stirtz.

Both teams have first-year head coaches, coming from similar successes at the mid-major level before earning a Big Ten opportunity.

This kind of high intensity is what McCollum trained his team for all offseason, to prepare for a short turnaround to the next game. Because right after this one on Tuesday night, a top 20 showdown with a storied rival in Illinois waits in the wings.

“Ours is our ability to be ready consistently and get ourselves to an intense level,” McCollum said of Iowa’s niche this season. “And that training helped. I think that the strength and the power and stuff like that is is not overrated ... And I think we put our kids through it pretty good.”

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