CHICAGO — Iowa guard Kyle Galloway stood in a perfect line with the rest of his bench teammates while the starters were introduced on the floor of the United Center.
A 6-foot-6 sophomore, he knew that senior guard Jason Price would get the nod to start the first game of the Big Ten tournament for the Hawkeyes.
But he had no idea that the game would eventually be in his hands.
Just over the five-and-a-half minute mark in the opening-round game against Minnesota, Galloway replaced Price and showed why he was the first guard off the bench.
After an easy layup to begin his night, Galloway was fouled attempting a three-point shot on Iowa’s next possession. He sank all three, then took control from a much further line.
Galloway brutalized a weak Minnesota outside defense the rest of the way, lighting the Gophers up for 20 points in the first half — 15 from beyond the arc.
“I don’t think I made a shot in warm-ups,” Galloway said. “We were moving the ball well, so I had time to get open looks. I made that first one, and once they start going in, you gain confidence.”
Down 46-30 at the break, Gophers coach Dan Monson said he knew things needed to change in the second half.
“Going into the game, we knew they were struggling a bit from the perimeter, but we gave them too good of looks,” Monson said. “We got into a bit of a snowball where our defense was affecting our offense. We knew that we had to make the perimeter guys beat us on the bounce, rather than just them standing up and shooting.”
Galloway began the second half right where he started the first: on the bench. Needing just two points to tie his career best, he accomplished that feat by draining a pair of free throws at 15:46 of the half, after subbing in for Dean Oliver.
Monson’s switch to a three-point defense worked as planned, however, forcing the Hawkeyes to take the ball inside, but drawing numerous foul shots.
Cue Galloway.
While in the first half it seemed he was unstoppable from the three-point line (he hit 5-of-6), in the second half he was equally hot, but from the free-throw line.
Galloway made all eight free throws he attempted in the second half and finished 11-of-11 in the game.
And in the game’s final moments, his free-throw skills were needed.
After the Gophers managed to come back from down 21 points to behind by just two with 15.6 seconds to play, Galloway took center stage.
He knocked down both bonus shots and then came off the bench to replace a fouled and bloody Jacob Jaacks with 5.1 seconds to go. Fittingly, Galloway made both shots to put Iowa up three and had the game won when Terrance Simmons’ 21-foot jumper was short.
Galloway finished with 30 points, leading all scorers.
“I saw that (Jaacks) was pretty bloody and I wanted to go in and shoot those free throws,” Galloway said. “It’s one of the easiest shots in the game and I’m lucky I made them.”
Iowa takes on Michigan State today, a team that will be a little bit more difficult to shoot the three on. The Spartans have a tall lineup, and one significantly deeper than most teams in the nation.
“We have a tall order ahead of us,” Hawkeyes coach Steve Alford said.
A pun, maybe. Reality, definitely.

Brian Stensaas welcomes comments at [email protected].