Check out our free Iowa vs Minnesota pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Minneapolis. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.

Iowa vs Minnesota Pick & Preview: Sunday, February 12th Betting Odds

Hawkeyes vs Golden Gophers Matchup at a Glance

  • Sport: NCAAB
  • Teams: Iowa Hawkeyes at Minnesota Golden Gophers
  • Where: Minneapolis at Williams Arena
  • Date: Sunday, February 12th
  • Betting Odds: Iowa -11.5, IOWA -720 | MINNST +500 O/U 147.0

Hawkeyes Preview:

Heading into today’s matchup vs Minnesota, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be taking the floor for the 25th time this season and have an overall record of 15-9. On the road, the Hawkeyes will be playing their 8th game of the season, having gone 2-6. So far, the Hawkeyes have been favored 17 times, going 13-4 straight up. In today’s matchup, the oddsmakers have Iowa as -11.5 point favorites.

Iowa will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Kris Murray who is averaging 20.65 points per game for the Hawkeyes. Murray is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Hawkeyes’ offensive game plan is the play of Filip Rebraca who has hit 57.2% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 14.04 points per game.

So far this season, Iowa has put together a strong scoring offense at 83.8 points per game (7th). This strong figure has come despite the Hawkeyes playing at a slow tempo compared to other schools. For the season, they have hit 36.8% of their shots from outside, which is closer to the NCAA average. Iowa’s overall field goal percentage currently sits at 46.4%

Golden Gophers Preview:

Minnesota will take the floor against the Hawkeyes with an overall record of 7-15. Currently, the Golden Gophers have been the home team 14 times, sitting with a record of 6-8. So far, the Golden Gophers have been the underdog 17 times, going 2-15 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +11.5 underdogs on the spread.

Minnesota will be dealing with a key injury against Iowa, as <__main__.PlayerInfoClass object at 0x7f1bb56b9f10> is unavailable going today’s contest. This season, Garcia has been very important to the Golden Gophers’ gameplan as he is their leading scorer and rebounder. So far, he is averaging 14.94 points per game as well as 6.33 boards. Without Dawson Garcia on the floor, the team will be counting on Ta’lon Cooper to up his offensive efforts. So far, Cooper is averaging 10.5 points per game. In addition to his scoring, he has contributed an average of 4.41 rebounds.

Coming into today’s game, Minnesota will be looking from some improved play from their offense. Currently, the Golden Gophers are ranked 333rd at 67.0 points per game. A major reason for their low scoring mumbers is the fact that they tend to work the clock on offense. This year, they are the 617th ranked team in terms of pace. When looking at their 3-point shooting numbers, Minnesota is close to the NCAA average at 36.8%.

Free Spread Prediction: Iowa Hawkeyes -11.5

While analyzing this matchup between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, we recommend choosing Iowa to come out on top and cover the spread. The oddsmakers have the Iowa as the heavy favorite with a point spread of -11.5. Not only do we like the Iowa’s historical performance as the favorite, as they are 3-2 vs the spread in their last 5 games when favored to win. But, they are matched up against a team that plays a similar style of basketball. So far, both Iowa and Minnesota are near the NCAA average in possessions per game. Before tip-off, go ahead and place your bet on the Iowa to win and cover the spread.