Jan. 29, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The University of Iowa men’s basketball team scored 89 points at 16th-ranked Indiana, but the Hawkeye defense didn’t have an answer for the Hoosiers, falling 103-89 on Sunday evening at Assembly Hall.
“You go on the road and shoot 80 percent in the second half and you score 89 (points), it should be a lot closer than 14 points,” said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. “It is a very disappointing effort defensively by our guys.”
The loss drops Iowa’s record to 11-11 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers improve to 17-5 overall and 5-5 in conference play, and the win snapped Iowa’s four game winning streak in the series.
Indiana, the Big Ten’s highest scoring offense, shot 55.2 percent (37-of-67) from the field and converted 25-of-31 free throw attempts in the game. The Hoosiers had 10 dunks in the contest, which led to a 58-40 advantage in points in the paint.
“We wanted to contain the dribble, and we didn’t do that,” said McCaffery. “Our rotations on penetration were not good, that’s where we gave up all the lay-ups. I am probably every bit concerned about the number of offensive rebounds they got.”
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“Our defense was horrible,” said freshman Josh Oglesby. “If you give up 103 points on the road, you’re not going to win.
“Our guards let their guards go past us and then our bigs have to help up and they dump it to their best post player and he finished. We have to get better with guard penetration.”
The Hawkeyes shot 63 percent (34-of-54) from the floor, including a blistering 79 percent (19-of-24) in the second half. They also shot 43.3 percent (8-of-15) from 3-point range for the game. Iowa had nearly as many total rebounds (22) as Indiana had offensive boards (20), which led to a 23-11 advantage in second chance points.
Oglesby netted a career-high 24 points to pace the Hawkeyes. The guard made 8-of-12 field goal attempts and went 6-of-8 from long range. Senior Matt Gatens connected on 9-of-13 attempts en route to 20 points, while Roy Devyn Marble had 13 points and five assists.
“Josh keeps getting better,” said McCaffery. “He’s working without the ball and has really intelligent shot selection. What you’re seeing is a guy develop right before your eyes.”
The Hawkeyes battled the Hoosiers to an 18 all tie over the first six minutes thanks to nine early points from Gatens. Indiana reserve Derek Elstun then provided the Hoosiers with a spark, scoring eight points in a span of 65 seconds to give IU the 26-18 advantage at the 11:37 mark. Indiana made 11-of-its-first-15 shots to open the game.
An Oglesby 3-pointer at the 9:26 mark pulled Iowa to within 28-25 and consecutive baskets by Aaron White trimmed the deficit to 32-31 with 7:06 remaining in the half. Indiana responded with an 8-2 run over a two and a half minute stretch and a 22-6 spurt to close out the half to take a 54-36 lead into the locker room.
Iowa cut its deficit to 12 points five times midway through the second half before Indiana pulled away. With the score 74-62, the Hoosiers scored 11-of-13 points to build an 85-64 advantage with 8:09 remaining. Indiana pushed its lead to 24 points (91-67) with 6:25 to play before Oglesby scored 13 points over the final six minutes to make it respectable.
Six Hoosier players reached double figures in the contest. Freshman Cody Zeller finished with 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting with seven dunks.
Iowa returns to action Wednesday night, hosting Minnesota inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena beginning at 7:30 p.m. (CT).
“Minnesota is playing as well as anybody in our league right now,” said McCaffery. “We’re going to have our hands full.”