Justin VanLaere takes a look at the Iowa Men’s Basketball Team’s game vs. the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in this edition of the VanLaere Vlog.

Game Info

Minnesota (10-3, 1-0) at Iowa (5-8, 0-1)
Jan. 2, 2010 • 3:01 p.m.
Iowa City, IA • Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TV: BTN (HD) • Live Stats: hawkeyesports.com
Series Record: Minnesota leads 96-88 (Last Meeting, Minnesota, 52-49, Jan. 8, 2009)

Probable Starting Lineups

Minnesota
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Statistical Summary
G 00 Al Nolen 6-1 188 Jr. 6.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.0 apg, .424 FG%, .735 FT%
G 20 Lawrence Westbrook 6-0 193 Sr. 14.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, .537 FG%, .750 FT%
G 24 Blake Hoffarber 6-4 210 Jr. 10.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, .521 FG%, .750 FT%
F 34 Damian Johnson 6-7 205 Sr. 10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, .535 FG%, .694 FT%
C 50 Ralph Sampson III 6-11 241 So. 7.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.2 bpg, .526 FG%, .568 FT%

Iowa
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Statistical Summary
G 3 Cully Payne 6-1 190 Fr. 8.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.9 apg, .375 FG%, .690 FT%
G 5 Matt Gatens 6-5 215 So. 12.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.5 apg, .411 FG%, .825 FT%
G 25 Eric May 6-5 225 Fr. 9.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, .441 FG%, .692 FT%
F 24 Aaron Fuller 6-6 230 So. 4.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.6 apg, .422 FG%, .611 FT%
C 50 Jarryd Cole 6-7 250 Jr. 9.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.5 apg, .627 FG%, .590 FT%

VanLaere Notes

YMCA-baller, Tim Doyle. will be doing color commentary in this one.  No… comment…

Two weeks after posting a YouTube video saying he was leaving college basketball, Gopher freshman, Royce White, returned to practice.

TEMPO-FREE STATS:  Iowa is in the bottom 20 in the nation in possessions per game, yet they are above the national average for adjusted offensive efficiency.  In layman’s terms – Iowa plays at a slow pace, but they do good things with the ball (esp. the past 4+ games).  Cully Payne plays the 2nd most minutes on the team, yet he is 5th on the team in used possessions behind Tucker, Gatens, May, and Fuller.  That’s what you like to see from a true point guard.

We could see a game a lot like THIS ONE from last year.

PREDICTION: I think I am allowed one off-the-hook in-season prediction and my bias towards Iowa’s opponent may have a bit of an influence on this one, as well.  Iowa 65,  Minnesota 63

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