March 9, 2004
Listen to today’s edition of Inside Iowa
Sophomore guards Jeff Horner and Pierre Pierce have earned all-Big Ten recognition for their play during the 2004 season, as both earned third team honors.
Pierce, a native of Westmont, IL, leads Iowa in scoring at 15.7 points per game. He has scored in double figures in 24 of 27 games while also averaging 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Pierce, for all games, ranks sixth in the Big Ten in scoring, 10th in assists per game and 15th in rebounding. He also averaged 15.7 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16 conference games, helping Iowa to a fourth place finish.
Starting all 27 games, Pierce not only leads the team in scoring, but also plays a big role on defense. Considered Iowa’s top defender, Pierce draws the toughest defensive assignments and throughout the season kept high scoring opponents below their scoring averages.
Pierce has scored 20 or more points in seven games, reaching a career-high 26 twice. His free throw in the final 10 seconds led Iowa to an overtime win over Louisville and his two free throws with 30 seconds remaining gave Iowa a one-point advantage in the win at Purdue last week.
Horner, from Mason City, earned third team recognition after being an honorable mention selection as a freshman. Horner is averaging 13 points, 4.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. He has scored 20 points or more in eight of Iowa’s last 14 games.
Horner improved his play during the Big Ten portion of the season, guiding Iowa to a 9-7 league record. In Big Ten games, Horner shot 50.8 percent from the field, 51.2% from three-point range and 91.8 percent from the free throw line, making 56-61 free throws.
Horner in Big Ten games only, ranked first in free throw percentage, second in three-point percentage, third in three-point field goals per game, fourth in assists, ninth in scoring, 12th in field goal percentage and 16th in rebounding.
Horner’s driving basket in the final seconds led Iowa to a double overtime win at Indiana and his two free throws with 12 seconds remaining proved to be the difference in the most recent 63-62 win at Purdue.
Proving their consistency, Horner and Pierce have each scored over 200 points and collected over 100 rebounds and 100 assists in each of their two seasons. They are two of just eight players in Iowa history to reach those totals in a single season and they are the only two Hawkeye players to reach those totals in more than one season. Pierce (672) and Horner (605) both have over 600 career points.