JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
The Iowa men's basketball team came from ahead to come back to beat Minnesota 63-59 in Carver Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday night.
Iowa led 18-8 with 8:56 to play before Minnesota went on a 19-6 run to end the half with the lead. The Gophers extended that lead to 45-35 with under 12 minutes to play in the game. The Hawks missed numerous free throws in the second half and were just 17-26 for the game, while Minnesota was hitting all sorts of three point shots in the second half and was 10-19 from long distance in the game.
These are not the kind of statistics that typically lead to wins, but somehow this Iowa team regained its early game focus, picked up their aggressiveness and found a way to win.
Minnesota had just made a three-point shot with 3:54 to play to lead 59-54. That's when sophomore Devyn Marble stepped it up and took over. He hit a three-point shot with 2:29 to play to pull Iowa to within two. He followed that up with a drive down the lane that ended with the highlight dunk of the season, with a defender on his him, to tie the game with 1:43 to play (video below).
Bryce Cartwright would hit two free throws with 1:05 to play to give Iowa a two-point lead, this after he had just clanked two free throws in a recent trip to the foul stripe. Minnesota missed a jumper with :43 to play and Gophers head coach Tubby Smith did not instruct his team to foul.
This was a key moment in the game, as Iowa let the air out of the ball and placed it in the hands of Marble with six seconds left on the shot clock. Marble was 30 feet from the rim, top of the key when he put his head down and charged towards the rim. That's when he found Matt Gatens wide open under the basket and Gatens scored from point-blank range to give Iowa a four-point lead with :08 left in the game to give Iowa a thrilling victory. It was an Iowa 9-0 run to end the game.
Gatens led Iowa with 18 points on the night, including several critical buckets in the second half to help Iowa to crawl back into the game. Marble scored 12 for Iowa to go along with five rebounds and two assists, but his play in the last three minutes was the difference in the game.
Melsahn Basabe came off the bench to score seven points and he also pulled down eight rebounds. Aaron White had nine points with seven rebounds and Zach McCabe scored eight bound and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Iowa started this game tough on the defensive end. They finished tough on both ends. In the middle, they lost players while on defense and had a very tough time doing much in their half court offensively. But when it mattered the most, they showed a great deal heart against a Minnesota team that came into Carver playing as good as any team in the league.
Minnesota had won at Indiana and Penn State in back to back games, then buried Northwestern at home 75-52 to string together three in a row. They lost at Michigan State then came back to beat Illinois in The Barn. That's a four wins in five game stretch against some salty competition, so I don't mind telling you that I was not overly optimistic about Iowa's chances before tip, primarily due to Iowa's three-game losing streak and how they had been losing.
Inexperienced teams can make you pull your hair out at times, but younger players can toss those cares aside and be a different team from game to game. Add in a player like Matt Gatens, who is desperate for some kind of post season and the Hawks put together a recipe for a gutty win at home in front of over 11,000 fans and more than 1,000 students who were very loud at times.
Iowa moves to 12-11 on the season, 4-6 in Big Ten play with the Big Ten's worst team coming to town on Saturday in the form of 10-13 (2-8) Penn State.
The game will tip off at 2pm and the 1986-1987 Iowa basketball team will be honored. Iowa will wear throwback jerseys for that game as well.
NOTES: Iowa outscored Minnesota 30-10 in the paint, which is a shocker. Minnesota is one of the bigger teams in the league and very athletic on the inside...Iowa was +6 on the offensive glass and +4 on the boards overall for the game...Iowa was +8 in points off turnovers, committing 10 to Minnesota's 16....Iowa scored 15 fast break points to 0 for Minnesota.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mFu7Zi41Ig[/ame]
Iowa led 18-8 with 8:56 to play before Minnesota went on a 19-6 run to end the half with the lead. The Gophers extended that lead to 45-35 with under 12 minutes to play in the game. The Hawks missed numerous free throws in the second half and were just 17-26 for the game, while Minnesota was hitting all sorts of three point shots in the second half and was 10-19 from long distance in the game.
These are not the kind of statistics that typically lead to wins, but somehow this Iowa team regained its early game focus, picked up their aggressiveness and found a way to win.
Minnesota had just made a three-point shot with 3:54 to play to lead 59-54. That's when sophomore Devyn Marble stepped it up and took over. He hit a three-point shot with 2:29 to play to pull Iowa to within two. He followed that up with a drive down the lane that ended with the highlight dunk of the season, with a defender on his him, to tie the game with 1:43 to play (video below).
Bryce Cartwright would hit two free throws with 1:05 to play to give Iowa a two-point lead, this after he had just clanked two free throws in a recent trip to the foul stripe. Minnesota missed a jumper with :43 to play and Gophers head coach Tubby Smith did not instruct his team to foul.
This was a key moment in the game, as Iowa let the air out of the ball and placed it in the hands of Marble with six seconds left on the shot clock. Marble was 30 feet from the rim, top of the key when he put his head down and charged towards the rim. That's when he found Matt Gatens wide open under the basket and Gatens scored from point-blank range to give Iowa a four-point lead with :08 left in the game to give Iowa a thrilling victory. It was an Iowa 9-0 run to end the game.
Gatens led Iowa with 18 points on the night, including several critical buckets in the second half to help Iowa to crawl back into the game. Marble scored 12 for Iowa to go along with five rebounds and two assists, but his play in the last three minutes was the difference in the game.
Melsahn Basabe came off the bench to score seven points and he also pulled down eight rebounds. Aaron White had nine points with seven rebounds and Zach McCabe scored eight bound and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Iowa started this game tough on the defensive end. They finished tough on both ends. In the middle, they lost players while on defense and had a very tough time doing much in their half court offensively. But when it mattered the most, they showed a great deal heart against a Minnesota team that came into Carver playing as good as any team in the league.
Minnesota had won at Indiana and Penn State in back to back games, then buried Northwestern at home 75-52 to string together three in a row. They lost at Michigan State then came back to beat Illinois in The Barn. That's a four wins in five game stretch against some salty competition, so I don't mind telling you that I was not overly optimistic about Iowa's chances before tip, primarily due to Iowa's three-game losing streak and how they had been losing.
Inexperienced teams can make you pull your hair out at times, but younger players can toss those cares aside and be a different team from game to game. Add in a player like Matt Gatens, who is desperate for some kind of post season and the Hawks put together a recipe for a gutty win at home in front of over 11,000 fans and more than 1,000 students who were very loud at times.
Iowa moves to 12-11 on the season, 4-6 in Big Ten play with the Big Ten's worst team coming to town on Saturday in the form of 10-13 (2-8) Penn State.
The game will tip off at 2pm and the 1986-1987 Iowa basketball team will be honored. Iowa will wear throwback jerseys for that game as well.
NOTES: Iowa outscored Minnesota 30-10 in the paint, which is a shocker. Minnesota is one of the bigger teams in the league and very athletic on the inside...Iowa was +6 on the offensive glass and +4 on the boards overall for the game...Iowa was +8 in points off turnovers, committing 10 to Minnesota's 16....Iowa scored 15 fast break points to 0 for Minnesota.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mFu7Zi41Ig[/ame]
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