Live Blog: Gophers Survive vs. Hawkeyes 52-49

4:30 PM: Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Welcome to the first live blog in the history of Club Tubby. Check back around 6 pm Central where I, Zombie, will provide a constant stream of my thoughts as they come to be during the Gophers' battle at Carver Hawkeye Arena. It should be interesting to see how the younger players on the squad perform in their second true road game of the season.

4:51 PM: Before the game begins I'd like to open this live blog up to you, the viewer. Please refer any thoughts, comments, or questions you have prior to or during the game to the comments section of this post!

6:02 PM: Game is on! Oh great, Doug Gottlieb announcing. OOOoooohh... and Jamal with the intro. Let's hope that's not his only contribution to tonight's game.

6:04 PM: Crashing the boards early! RSIII on the defensive side. Colt 45 on the offensive glass and Damian draws a foul too. Let's hope they can keep this up.

6:08 PM: I'm diggin' the all maroon look tonight. I'm also surprised by the lack of fans at the game. There are a lot of empty seats behind the two team benches. Maybe all the Hawkeye fans are getting busy in the bathroom... (I have a feeling that joke will never get old)

6:13 PM: Four quality losses??? Yeah Drake is 11-4 but two of those losses are to Evansville and Stephen F. Austin!

6:14 PM: Al gets a 5 second call! Intangibles, intangibles, intangibles...

6:17 PM: FromTheBarn.org gets a shout out! Nice work!

6:21 PM: Cyrus Tate goes down hard. That's a big hit for the Hawks. Hopefully it's not too serious.

6:23 PM: So I am not one of those guys that follows Big Ten referees intensely, but one of my faves is out there tonight. I don't know his real name, but we at Club Tubby fondly call him "Man Boobs". You'll know him when you see him.

6:25 PM: Thank you Doug Gottlieb for pointing out the obvious flaws in the Gophers resume. He's right though, this game will show a lot to those outside the program.

6:28 PM: The good news is Travis Busch shaved. The bad news is he forgot the part above his upper lip.

6:30 PM: 18-10 Hawkeyes with 7:36 left in the first half. I guess a slow start was to be expected. The Hawkeyes could really have us down and out right now if there was any semblence of a fan base there supporting their team and getting on the Gophers for their sloppy play.

6:33 PM: "I think it's colder in Iowa City than it is in Minneapolis." Remind me to never rely on Doug Gottleib for weather forecasts. (20-10 now..... WAKE UP, there's no energy in the building or on the Gopher bench)

6:36 PM: Slam by Cole after Iowa breaks the press. This is NOT a pressing line-up for the Gophers. Any time Busch and JAS are on the court at the same time, we should not press. I actually can't think of anytime that those two should be on the court together.

6:40 PM: JAS saves a horrible possession by nailing a contested three with 3 seconds on the shot clock. That was huge. In the meantime, the Gophers have switched to a zone on the defensive end. A similar switch was made last game against OSU and led to a 19-2 run by the Gophers to close out the first half of that game. Hopefully MN can go on a similar run and get the game knotted up before half. (23-15 right now)

6:44 PM: I am not a big fan of this Gopher line-up right now. I just really don't like Busch and JAS on the court at the same time, although they have both hit threes in the last couple minutes. I'd like to PC out there in place of one of those guys.

6:47 PM: Horrible end of the half possession (airball by Nolen), but the Gophers are only down 26-20 at half after hitting a couple shots and switching to the zone.

7:04 PM: Tate is out for the game. It will be really disappointing if the Gophers don't pull this one out against a Tate-less Hawkeye team.

7:10 PM: Minnesota is sticking with the zone this half and it's working with one exception: they haven't been able to coral the long offensive rebounds.

7:15 PM: PC does a real nice job following his miss and taking it strong for a three point play. Gopher fans should hope to see more of that as the season progresses.

7:17 PM: The turnover bug has bit the Hawkeyes. Gophers need to take advantage.

7:19 PM: Bostick with a nice baseline drive and floater. Gophers only down two now 31-29. They have Iowa struggling on offense. If they could get their collective three point stroke going, the Gophers could quickly jump ahead here.

7:24 PM: Joseph really looks like a freshman tonight. A couple bad shots taken, some missed open looks, and a couple turnovers. In the meantime, Gophers tie it at 31 a piece.

7:28 PM: PC hits a 20 ft. two-pointer and Gophers take the lead 33-31. Honestly, if the Gophers don't win against an Iowa team without Tate, Tucker, and now Kelly, who appears injured, that will look real bad on national TV.

7:32 PM: Will either team break the 50 point barrier??? Gophers lead 36-33 with 7 minutes left.

7:39 PM: Gophers taking over now 39-33. Iowa's offense looks totally lost. Now I know why all those Hawkeye fans decided to stay home tonight.

7:41 PM: Great body control by Damian on the pick and roll feed from Hoff. A less experienced player would have gotten a charge call there but DJ was able to stop his momentum and jump straight up for the baby hook.

7:43 PM: Gaten hits two threes in a row for Iowa, but Nolen answers with a three of his own with the shot clock under 5. Gophers up 7 with 3:16 left. Busch has made his presence known in this game with two threes and a key put back a minute ago. Good to see him bounce back after not seeing much PT against OSU.

7:50 PM: Hoff with a bad turnover and Busch with a bad foul late in the shot clock and Iowa cuts it to 46-44 with 1:17 left.

7:52 PM: Busch, with a classic "No, no, no, YES!" drive for two to push the Gopher lead back to four with 39.4 seconds left. Good possession by the Gophers.

7:54 PM: Good defense to by the Gophers. The ball gets crotched in the rim and Gophers get the ball back on the possession arrow. They lead 48-44 with 25.6 seconds left.

7:57 PM: Another poor turnover at the end of a close game by the Gophers. It looks like they'll escape after Iowa misses a three but these end-game mishaps are going to come back to haunt them sometime this season.

7:59 PM: Nolen misses two FTs and Iowa hits a three! It's a one point game with 5 seconds left!

8:02 PM: Westbrook hits two FTs to push the lead to three. Kelly then lets a half court shot fly with 2 seconds still on the clock and misses. The Gophers escape 52-49. If there ever was an ugly win this was it.