IOWA CITY -- The Iowa mounted a ridiculous comeback on Sunday afternoon to defeat Big Ten rival Minnesota, trailing by 20 points before stealing the home victory, 90-85.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

If the comeback was ridiculous, so were the first 30 minutes of the game -- in the exact opposite fashion. The Hawkeye men looked as if they didn't want to be there -- bad body language, a lack of effort defensively, and poor shot-selection were just a few of the symptoms that led to the 20-point deficit.

"Our defense was terrible," junior forward Payton Sandfort said postgame. "They weren't missing shots, either. They were wide open."

"In the first half, they made their run," Fran McCaffery added. "We made a couple uncharacteristic turnovers, and we were trying to be over aggressive, I thought. Our ball-screen defense was not good."

"Credit to them. They were moving the ball, they got great shots, and they made them. They made eight threes and (Dawson) Garcia made one with his toe on the line, so it could've been nine. You make nine threes in the first half and it's going to be hard to beat them."

Garcia put up 18 to propel the Gophers to their 51-38 halftime lead.

The final ten minutes are where the game flipped on its head. According to McCaffery, it all started with his team's defense.

"We started being more aggressive at the point of attack," he said. "We were trapping them, running around and scrambling. It came down to effort. That, and we started pressing up on the ball a little bit more on the ball-screens."

"Coach really emphasized defense," Freeman added. "We didn't do that in the first half. They were able to get whatever they wanted. We had to force them to miss shots, and that was something coach really emphasized. That mindset on the defensive end is really what allowed us to change the game."

Sandfort said it all started with the talk in the huddle.

"We stressed 'change the season right now,'" he said. "Change it with the effort on the defensive end. That's where it all changed. ... We really ramped up the intensity and that's where were able to make our big run."

Between 7:28 and 4:05 left in the game, the Hawkeyes went on a 16-0 run, taking a 78-77 lead with 4:34 left and never looking back.

"It was just the toughness that we have," Sandfort said. "We knew we had to get this one, we knew we had to fight until the finish. We just kept making plays and getting stops, and that's how you win a game like that."

Sandfort was a big part of the effort, finishing tied for the team lead with 21 points and adding eight rebounds. Patrick McCaffery added 21 points as well.

"He was about as good as I've seen him," Sandfort said. "He made some big time shots and big time plays. He was defending, and if we can get him like that every night, that'll be huge for him to be back after battling through injuries. He was probably the difference in the game tonight. Props to him and that's what a senior leader does."

Garcia also missed a majority of the second half with an injury.

"They're obviously a great team with and without him," Freeman said. "He's a key part of their offense and who they are. It was different, but we just had the same mindset -- just keep attacking -- and that's what we did."

The play that may have been Iowa's initial spark to the fire that was their comeback was the final play of the first half. Trailing by 17 with 1:10 to go, Freeman went on a bit of a run himself.

With two dunks -- including a fastbreak slam off a steal of his own -- over that timeframe, the freshman from Moline got the lead down to 13.

He, quite literally, sacrificed his body to disrupt the Gopher's final shot attempt of the half -- he chipped one of his two front teeth.

"After I got the breakaway dunk at the end of the half, I came down and Fox missed it got me with his elbow," Freeman said. "It was the last play of the first half. I didn't know until I spit it out."

"Obviously we didn't start the second half the way we wanted, but we would've been down 25 if he didn't make that play," Sandfort added. "I'm proud of him. He was phenomenal tonight."

Freeman, like the rest of the team, had a slow start, but was pivotal in the comeback.

"I thought at the start of the game that he was a step slow," McCaffery said. "Then he took the game over. I'm really proud of him for the way he responded."

All in all, Freeman finished the night with 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

"You spit out and keep playing, that's what you do," McCaffery laughed. "I'm not surprised that's what he did."

Up next, Iowa will take on Maryland (13-11, 5-8) in College Park on Wednesday, February 14 at 7:30 pm CT. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.