MINNEAPOLIS — Ben Krikke scored 25 points, Josh Dix, who got the start in place of an injured Patrick McCaffery, added 21 points and Iowa beat Minnesota 86-77 on Monday night to make Fran McCaffery the winningest coach in program history.
Fran McCaffery, who is in his 28th season as a head coach and 14th at Iowa, won his 272nd game as a Hawkeye, passing Dr. Tom Davis (1986-99) for the most victories in program history. On Jan. 6, McCaffery won his 127th career Big Ten game to move past Davis for the most league victories.
Dix scored 8 straight Iowa points, capped by a pull-up jumper with 7:07 left for a 67-56 lead. Minnesota got as close as 5 points from there, but Owen Freeman‘s dunk and subsequent free throw pushed Iowa’s advantage to 78-67 with 1:27 remaining.
Tony Perkins added 13 points and Freeman had 12 points and eight rebounds for Iowa (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten). McCaffery did not play because of an ankle injury.
Dawson Garcia scored 30 points for Minnesota (12-5, 3-3). Joshua Ola-Joseph added 15 points and Cam Christie scored 12.
Iowa won its third straight game in Minneapolis for the first time since 1954-56.
Former Iowa star Luka Garza, the national player of the year in 2021, sat behind the Hawkeye bench. Garza, now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is the school’s men’s leader in scoring at 2,306 points. Caitlin Clark became Iowa‘s all-time career scoring leader on Sunday with 2,813 points.
Iowa returns home to play No. 2 Purdue on Saturday. Minnesota goes on the road to play Michigan State on Thursday.