Feb. 9, 2013
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — In Saturday’s 71-57 victory over Northwestern, the University of Iowa men’s basketball team got a win it needed, and junior Roy Devyn Marble had a performance he needed.
After two excruciating road losses against Minnesota and Wisconsin, where Marble netted a combined two points, the junior guard broke out with a 21-point scoring output, making 8-of-13 shots from the floor and all four free throw attempts. He also finished the game with five assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes.
“I’ve been feeling like I was going to play like this the last 3-4 games and that’s just how it happens sometimes,” said Marble. “I am doing little things now to make the game easier for me and to help my teammates.
“I got a lot of easier buckets today and I was in a rhythm. When you get easy buckets, it makes the game a lot easier. Everything about the game was flowing the way we wanted it to.”
The Hawkeyes shot 48 percent from the floor (24-of-50) and made 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) 3-point field goals. Iowa limited Northwestern to 35.1 percent shooting (20-of-57) and 24 percent (6-of-25) from long range. The Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle, 34-31.
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Sophomore Josh Oglesby was the only other Iowa player in double digits, finishing with 10 points, but a total of 10 Hawkeyes scored, including five players with at least six points.
After taking a 29-25 lead into the half, Iowa stretched its lead to 34-25 less than two minutes into the second half, but Northwestern would answer with seven straight points to trim the margin to 36-34 with 15:29 left.
With Iowa clinging to the two-point lead, the Hawkeyes took control with a 10-0 run over a four-minute span to push the lead to 12 points. Oglesby opened the spurt with a 3-pointer and his second triple stretched the advantage to 50-38 with 8:38 remaining.
The Wildcats got the margin back to single digits (55-46) on an Alex Marcotullio 3-pointer with 7:09 left, but Iowa responded by scoring 14 of the next 18 points to build a 69-50 advantage and break the game open.
Reggie Hearn paced Northwestern with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Four Wildcat players finished with eight points apiece.
Marble got off to a quick start, scoring the game’s first field goal on a fast break dunk and making a 3-pointer on his first jumper. It was the kind of start he needed.
“The key for him is to shoot open shots, play his game, mix it — jumpers, drives, pull-ups and plays for other people,” said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. “He was spectacular, there’s no question about it.”
The first half was tightly contested, featuring seven ties and six lead changes. Northwestern built a 17-13 at the 9:46 mark before an 8-0 run gave the Hawkeyes the 21-17 lead with 6:05 to go in the half. Basabe opened the spurt with a jumper and dunk before Marble followed suit.
After Northwestern tied the game for the seventh time at the 1:30 mark, Iowa netted the final four points to take a 29-25 lead into the break. The Hawkeyes shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor; the Wildcats were 11-of-29 (37.9 percent), and out rebounded Iowa, 19-13.
Iowa (15-9, 4-7) returns to action Thursday night at Penn State beginning at 8 p.m. (CT).
“I think this gave us some confidence heading into this next week of practice and preparing for Penn State,” said Marble. “We know we need to go on a run now, and this was just a stepping stone to keep going.”