Golden Gophers vs. Hawkeyes Prediction
The Iowa Hawkeyes will look to even their Big Ten Conference record at 1-1 tonight as they host a Minnesota Golden Gophers squad playing their conference opener. Can Iowa protect its home court with a win?
Game Snapshot
823 Minnesota Golden Gophers at 824 Iowa Hawkeyes
Monday, December 9, 2019
Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 8PM ET
TV: BTN
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers, the Hawkeyes are a 6-point favorite on the spread line. The total sits at 145.5 points. As of Monday afternoon, 71 percent of public bets are siding with host Iowa. Check out our College Basketball Public Betting Page for up-to-date info.
Golden Gophers blast Tigers
Minnesota cruised to a 78-60 home win last Monday night over Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to improve to 4-4 overall and 4-1 at home. The Golden Gophers outscored the Tigers 43-31 in the second half to pull away. Marcus Carr paced Minnesota with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting including 2-of-7 from 3-point distance plus 6-of-7 at the free throw line. He also contributed nine assists and five rebounds. Daniel Oturu tallied 21 points, four boards and four blocked shots. Gabe Kalscheur accounted for 15 points, three caroms and two assists.
Garza pours in 44 in defeat
Iowa lost by a count of 103-91 Friday night at Michigan to drop to 6-3 overall and 0-1 on the road. The Hawkeyes trailed 50-38 at halftime and were unable to recover. Luka Garza poured in 44 points in the losing effort on 17-of-32 from the field plus 10-of-13 at the charity stripe. He also pulled down eight rebounds. Connor McCaffery added 12 points, seven boards and three assists.
College Basketball Betting Trends
Minnesota
The Golden Gophers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. Minnesota is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 Monday games.
Iowa
The Hawkeyes are 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games. The home team is 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings.
Prediction:
The Hawkeyes have an elite offense but struggle to get stops defensively and face a Golden Gophers squad tonight that has four losses by single digits. The win over Clemson was also the first top 100 victory for Minnesota so far this season, but it has lost to some tough opponents. With the Golden Gophers being by far the toughest opponent Iowa has played so far at home, I think it is in for a tough test. Look for Minnesota to put up a tough fight in its Big Ten opener to make this a closer than expected finish.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY PREDICTION: MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS +6