IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa Hawkeyes proved Wednesday night that two is better than one.
Hawkeyes basketball stars Reggie Evans and Luke Recker took turns shining in the spotlight against Northwestern en route to a 70-60 Iowa win in front of 15,500 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Evans led the No. 13 Hawkeyes in the first half with 13 points, while Recker was the floor general after the break, putting up a 13-spot of his own.
The Wildcats (8-5, 0-2 Big Ten) fell to 1-17 all-time in Iowa City in their first trip to the Hawkeye State in more than two years. Iowa is now 10-2 at home, having sustained losses to only No. 2 Duke and No. 17 Missouri.
“I think in the second half we weren’t as aggressive as we were in the first half,” said NU guard Jitim Young, who led the Cats with 16 points. “We were inconsistent – we were playing well in spurts.”
The Hawkeyes (13-4, 2-1) set a physical tone early, as forward Duez Henderson exploded down the middle of the lane to score the game’s first points.
Iowa then went to Evans, a preseason All-Big Ten forward, who powered his way to a game-high 21 points. NU big men Tavaras Hardy, Aaron Jennings and Vedran Vukusic were no match for the 6-8, 245-pound senior. Evans had three fast-break dunks in the first stanza and another in the second.
“(The dunks) felt real good, especially my first dunk,” said Evans, who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. “I got a two-handed dunk, and everybody gets on me for only dunking with one hand. It was good for the fans because a lot of fans bug me about it: ‘Can we get something different?'”
Recker, who proved to be the Cats’ poison in the second half, finished the game with 20 points. He was 4-for-4 from three-point range and 8-for-12 overall.
Iowa also outscored NU 28-18 in the paint.
But much of Iowa’s success down low didn’t stem from one-on-one play in the blocks, Hardy said. Carelessness by the Cats and the Hawkeyes’ firm hands contributed to NU’s demise in the lane.
Time and again, Iowa’s guards and forwards stripped the ball from unsuspecting NU players. The Hawkeyes tallied 10 steals, which often led to easy fast-break points and powerful finishes in the paint.
“They were coming from behind and slapping the ball out of our hands,” said Hardy, who mustered just four points. “We have to be stronger if we want to win some games in this league. We weren’t very strong with the ball tonight.”
Despite Iowa’s sheer inside dominance and the Cats’ sloppy play – NU had 12 turnovers in the first half alone, leading to 13 Iowa points – the Cats managed to keep the game close. NU had only five second-half turnovers, while the Hawkeyes amassed 22 in the game. The Cats also edged Iowa in steals with 11.
Yet Iowa didn’t appear to be fazed by NU’s brief spurts.
NU was looking to cut the Hawkeyes’ lead to just six with less than a minute left in the first half, but Iowa staged a 5-0 run to take a 36-25 halftime lead.
The Cats also staged a small rally early in the second half to pull within five points – the game’s smallest margin since Iowa led 17-12 midway through the first half. But sparked by two Recker three pointers, the Hawkeyes came right back with an 8-0 run of their own, taking a 48-35 edge.
“It seemed like they would open up the game to 13 points or 14 points, we’d get it down to 9 or 10, then they’d make a big play,” NU head coach Bill Carmody said. “We never got to the point where they were nervous about the next shot they were going to take.”
The Cats controlled the offensive glass with nine boards, compared to Iowa’s three. NU also held Iowa scoreless on second-chance opportunities.
But NU didn’t come close to matching Iowa’s stellar shooting performance. While the Hawkeyes shot 60 percent from the floor, the Cats stumbled to a 39 percent shooting night.
NU forward Winston Blake was the Cats’ second-leading scorer with 14 points, followed by Vukusic’s 11 and Jennings’ 10, which included two three-point baskets.
