Hawkeyes fall victim to hot Villanova shooting
Posted on 30. Nov, 2013 by admin in Iowa Basketball
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
For the second time in three nights, the 23rd-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes saw themselves playing overtime at the Battle 4 Atlantis when they faced Villanova in the tourney’s title game. Unlike Thanksgiving night against Xavier though, Iowa wasn’t able to emerge victorious.
Despite possessing a 15-point lead in the second half, the Hawkeyes were outshot, out-rebounded and less tough down the stretch and as a result, saw the Wildcats leave the Bahamas with the Battle 4 Atlantis crown after defeating Iowa, 88-83. This was the Hawkeyes’ first defeat of the 2013-14 season and now sit at 7-1 overall.
Villanova jumped out to an early 10-4 lead before Iowa took control in the first half thanks in large part to the play of its bench. Led by senior forward Zach McCabe’s 14 points, the Hawkeyes put together a 26-6 run that gave them a 15-point lead with 7:07 left before halftime.
The Wildcats were able to trim that deficit to nine points at halftime, but it quickly went back up to 15 after senior guard Devyn Marble — who tallied a game-high 24 points — drained a 3-pointer to give Iowa a 50-35 lead with 17:13 left in regulation. But Villanova would make an enormous run thanks in large part to outside shooting and rebounding. The Wildcats finished 14-of-38 from 3-point range, but knocked down nine of their 22 attempts from behind the arc between the second half of regulation and overtime.
Then there was Villanova’s ability to control the boards, possessing a 48-36 rebounding edge on the Hawkeyes. Iowa also found itself in foul trouble, as three players — sophomore guard Mike Gesell, McCabe and junior forward Aaron White — all fouled out against Villanova.
Further complicating this matter was the Wildcats’ ability to drain 16-of-20 free-throw attempts after shooting just 4-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half alone. Conversely, Iowa shot just 14-of-21 from the foul line.
Iowa returns home to play Notre Dame on Dec. 3 in a game that is part of this year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Tip-off from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 8:15 p.m. Central and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Be sure to visit HawkeyeDrive.com Tuesday night for complete coverage of Iowa’s game against Notre Dame from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
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