Langston Reynolds scored 22 points and Cade Tyson added 16 on Tuesday as Minnesota held off a rally to defeat No. 19 Iowa 70-67.
Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points, all in the second half, as Iowa (12-3, 2-2 in the Big Ten) rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to take the lead in the final two minutes.
Minnesota (10-5, 3-1) led 58-44 with 6:36 to play when Iowa began its comeback. Stirtz hit six straight free throws, Kael Combs converted a three-point play, and Stirtz and Brendan Hausen each hit a 3 to lead the rally.
When Cooper Koch drove for a layup with 1:13 to play, the Hawkeyes led 64-63, their first lead since it was 20-18 with six minutes to go in the first half.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson answered with a 3-pointer, but Minnesota missed three of four free throws in the final 35 seconds to keep the door open.
Isaac Asuma hit a pair from the line with 16.5 seconds to play to give the Gophers a 70-67 lead. Iowa then got three good looks from the 3-point line in the final seconds but couldn’t hit the tying shot. Gophers fans stormed the court after the team's second home win over a ranked team this season.
The Hawkeyes came into the game with the Big Ten's top defense, allowing just 60.1 points per game, while the Gophers' offense was next to last in the conference.
But it was the Gophers who applied the defensive pressure early, as Iowa made just one of its first nine field goals while the Gophers took an early 12-3 lead. The Hawkeyes stormed back with a 17-4 burst, capped by a 3-pointer by Koch, who had eight points in the run.
But Minnesota countered with 12 straight points, including a pair of 3s by Tyson as the Gophers took a 31-24 halftime lead.
Gopher coach Niko Medved said prior to the win over Iowa his shorthanded team has been battling, and learning how to win. That was proven once more Tuesday night as the Hawkeyes stormed back to take the lead late.
"We've been in some of these situations this year and we were down, that game we were down seven with four and a half minutes to go," said the Gopher coach. "Maybe three weeks ago if we were in that situation, maybe there would have been a little lack of belief if we could come back and pull it off. But we've talked and worked so hard at being resilient and making the next play, and man, those guys didn't back down an inch. We came back, we made a great run and took the lead and found a way to get the job done."
Minnesota earned a home-court upset of then-22nd ranked Indiana on Dec. 3 as well.
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Minnesota hosts Southern Cal on Friday.