Offensive Barrage Lifts Iowa on Black Friday

Nov. 26, 2010

Box Score

Iowa City, Iowa — It took six games, but the up-tempo Fran McCaffery playing style was in full swing in Iowa’s 111-50 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Black Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes’ 111 points are the most for the program since 1998 and the most in the Big Ten this season.

Iowa ran away from the Cougars from the opening tip, as they stormed out to a 15-4 lead over the first five minutes of the contest. The squad then used an 18-2 run that was highlighted by three long balls from freshman Zach McCabe to stretch its lead to 33-8 at the 9:21 mark.

“Zach gave us an unbelievable boost, hitting three three-pointers in a row early,” said McCaffery. “He kind of broke the game open for us right there.”

Following a 5-2 SIUE spurt, the Hawkeyes reeled off 12 straight points, which included an alley-oop throw down from Bryce Cartwright to Devon Archie that made the score 48-13. Iowa, which shot 56.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes, took a 53-20 lead into the half.

“We didn’t let up in the first half,” said McCaffery. “We mixed up our defenses and got offense from our defense. Our offensive rebounding was very good and we got contributions from a lot of different players.”

SIU Edwardsville made its first four shots of the second half to trim the deficit to 56-29, but it was too little too late. Iowa responded with a 20-5 run to stretch the lead to 45 points at 78-33. With the game outcome not in doubt, the only lingering question for the Hawkeye fans was would the squad hit the 100-point mark.

Iowa went deep into its bench, but it didn’t matter, as the scoring barrage continued. Freshman Branden Stubbs netted his first career points on a three-pointer that made the score 90-38. The Hawkeyes then hit the century mark courtesy of a Jordan Stoermer long ball with 3:12 remaining.

In total 12 of the 13 Hawkeyes that saw action scored, which included six players in double digits. McCabe paced the squad with 16 points, while Stubbs – a walk-on – netted 12 points on a perfect 3-of-3 night from the floor and a 4-for-4 outing from the charity stripe.

“It was a blast getting out there,” said Stubbs. “I just came out trying to let the game come to me, run the offense and I got a couple of open looks.”

The Hawkeyes held a 43-27 advantage on the glass and forced SIUE into 29 turnovers. Iowa finished with 19 swipes in the contest, including seven by sophomore Eric May, which are tied for the fourth most in a single game in school history.

Iowa’s 61-point victory equals the sixth largest win in school history, and it was the largest margin of victory since 1966 when Iowa downed Pepperdine by the exact same score.

The Hawkeyes will face a difficult challenge when it heads to Winston-Salem, N.C., on Tuesday night to face Wake Forest in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

“This will be a great opportunity for us,” said McCaffery. “Wake Forest is a tremendous program that has been great for many years. We are looking forward to going there and playing well.”