Dec. 20, 2008
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by Sean Neugent
DES MOINES, Iowa — In a brutal and physical game, the Drake Bulldogs prevailed over the University of Iowa, 60-43, inside the Knapp Center on Saturday night in men’s basketball.
The Hawkeyes had a week off before facing Drake and they had a tough time matching and adjusting to the Bulldog intensity.
“I think after a game like this it’s kind of tough [after a week off],” UI freshman Matt Gatens said. “You would rather play again and prove yourselves wrong, but it is something we have to deal with and forget about what happened and learn from our mistakes.”
The Hawkeyes shot 15 of 48 (31 percent) from the floor and 8 of 29 (28 percent) from three-point range. The biggest difference came from Iowa’s 26 personal fouls and Drake took advantage by hitting 23 from the charity stripe to the Iowa’s five. Rebounds also worked to the Bulldog advantage, winning the battle 41-24.
Iowa freshman Anthony Tucker led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 12 points (4 of 10 from three-point range). Sophomore Jeff Peterson added eight points, five assists and three steals. Jarryd Cole, playing 21 minutes, pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
Drake’s Jonathan Cox got things started right out of the gate hitting a jumper. Craig Stanley followed it up dribbling in for a layup to make it 4-1 with Hawkeye’s lone point coming from senior Cyrus Tate’s free throw. UI sophomore Jake Kelly knotted things up, 5-5, when he penetrated into the lane and hit an off-balance jumper with 15:07 left in the half.
Drake’s Josh Young was fouled on a layup attempt, making both his basket and the free throw to push the Bulldog lead to 10-7 with 13:40 remaining. Josh Parker added a trey on the next possession to give Drake a 13-7 lead.
Drake’s hard-nosed defense continued to give the Hawkeyes all they could handle when Iowa was called for a five-second violation on the in-bounds.
Peterson helped Iowa regain momentum with a three-point basket. Young took the momentum right back for Drake nailing a trey on the Bulldogs following possession.
The Hawkeye aggressiveness posed problems when they were hit with several early fouls helping Drake get to the bonus line early.
The Bulldogs got off to an authoritative 26-10 lead with free throws from Parker and Young. With 4:32 remaining, Parker drilled another three-point field goal to take a 19-point lead.
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“The things that are most frustrating for me are that when someone is driving at you hard, you think that you might get a half a dozen charges and I think we might have had one or two. We have to do a better job of taking position and making those kinds of plays.”
UI head coach
Todd Lickliter |
“You think that they are great shooters and they are,” UI head coach Todd Lickliter said. “They also have a great knack for running down offensive rebounds and coming up with offensive rebounds; they are really good at it.”
Tempers flared after Gatens and Cox went after a loose ball and both were hit with technical fouls.
“I didn’t hear the whistle,” Gatens said. “They thought I jumped on him a little late. It was a loud environment, I just saw the ball was loose and jumped on there.”
UI junior Jermain Davis helped cut the Bulldog lead to 30-18 with an open trey. With two more from the charity stripe, Drake went into the locker room leading 32-18.
The Hawkeyes struggled to shoot well and with Drake’s zone defense they had trouble getting into the lane as they shot 7 of 23 (30 percent) from the floor and only 3 of 14 (21 percent) from deep range. Drake was helped by 12 personal fouls that led to nine points. The Hawkeyes could only muster getting to the line once.
“One of the things they do is they matchup so well zone-wise,” Lickliter said. “They do a great job of covering and they don’t foul. That’s huge and I have been looking at them and that has to be the theory — keep them off the line. We probably beat them from the field but they beat us from the line. I think it is a strategy and it is well played out.”
“Their zone made us be a little less aggressive than we normally would be,” Tucker said. “We just have to be more aggressive on offense.”
Davis provided early sparks for the Hawkeyes in the second half when he nailed a three on Iowa’s first possession. Iowa continued to have foul trouble and committed fouls on Drake’s first two possessions.
“The things that are most frustrating for me are that when someone is driving at you hard, you think that you might get a half a dozen charges and I think we might have had one or two,” Lickliter said. “We have to do a better job of taking position and making those kinds of plays.”
“We weren’t able to execute,” Peterson said. “We didn’t play, we didn’t come ready to play and that is what did it.”
Young continued to make his shots when he hit another from deep to put Drake up, 39-25. With six second left on the shot clock the Hawkeyes in-bounded it to Tucker who banked in a deep three. Moments later Tucker hit again from deep to make it 43-31.
The stingy Hawkeye defense helped get some much needed stops and let Tucker take over for another three to cut the lead to a single-digit 43-34 Drake lead.
The Bulldogs regained momentum when they forced a 10-second half-court violation on the Hawkeyes when they imposed a full-court trap.
Drake’s Jacob Baryenbruch all but sealed the deal pulling up for a trey with 3-minutes left before Parker stole the Hawkeyes next pass and had a breakaway layup to give Drake a 16-point lead.
“I was really impressed with Drake as I scouted them and even more so today,” Lickliter said. “I thought they controlled the tempo and were the aggressor.”
“They came out ready to play,” Peterson said. “They set the tone for how the game was going to be played. We had to sit there and play catch-up and anytime you do that with a good team, it’s not fun and it is going to be tough. It is just something we have to work on from the tipoff.”
Iowa returns home for its final nonconference matchup against Western Illinois on Dec. 27 with a 7:05 p.m. tipoff inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.