IOWA CITY, Iowa — After his team’s collapse at Northwestern earlier this year, Iowa coach Steve Alford said he was “as discouraged” as he had ever been.
Saturday, Alford was in a much better mood, entering the post-game press conference beaming about his daughter, who recently won her first dance competition.
His players did fine in their contest, too.
Iowa snapped its three-game losing streak to NU (11-12, 4-7 Big Ten) with a 64-54 win in front of 12,424 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Players said afterwards redemption had been on their minds.
“A quote of the week was, ‘It’s personal, it’s a personal game,'” Iowa center Seth Gorney said. “They got us three (straight) times, and you know, we finally said, ‘Let’s go out and get them at our place.'”
The Hawkeyes (16-7, 4-6) went on a 12-0 run to end the first half and took a 13-point lead, but the Cats responded after halftime with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to four.
The scene was reminiscent of the teams’ Jan. 26 meeting, in which Iowa saw a 12-point lead vanish in the final three minutes of regulation. NU won that game 75-74 in overtime on Michael Jenkins’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
But Saturday, Iowa answered the Cats’ spurt with a more sustained effort, outscoring NU 18-5 during the next eight minutes. Iowa led 57-40 with eight minutes remaining and never relinquished its double-digit lead.
“They plain beat us,” NU coach Bill Carmody said.
NU forward Vedran Vukusic, who scored a career-high 32 points against Iowa earlier this year, hit 4-of-15 shots Saturday for 11 points, and was 1 of 7 from 3-point range. It was his worst shooting performance since the season-opener against Portland.
Guard T.J. Parker went 1 for 4 from the field for two points. He committed three turnovers and notched just one assist.
Four minutes into the second half, with a chance to cut Iowa’s lead to two, Parker missed two free throws. After Iowa guard Mike Henderson hit a mid-range jumper to extend the lead to six, Vukusic missed a layup.
It was that kind of night for NU’s leading scorers.
“I just think it’s really hard for Northwestern to win if Vukusic and Parker don’t score,” Alford said. “What (Greg Brunner) did to Vukusic and what (Henderson) was able to do to Parker, I think those were keys to the game.”
Carmody said Vukusic, who has played a team-leading 35.9 minutes per game, may have been fatigued. Three of Vukusic’s four lowest scoring outputs this season have come in the last four games.
Vukusic, however, did provide the Cats a highlight reel dunk in the first half. He batted away a pass intended for Brunner, coasted down the court and took off from eight feet out for a smooth one-handed jam. NU led 21-19 at that point, with 6:57 left.
Three minutes later, Iowa began its 12-0 run to end the half.
The Cats were torched on defense by Brunner and guards Adam Haluska and Jeff Horner. The trio, which combined for 47 points, stepped up to fill the void left by Pierre Pierce, the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer.
Alford dismissed Pierce on Feb. 2 for “betraying the trust of the program.” The junior guard was charged with assault and burglary last week.
Haluska, who Carmody said was more aggressive in Pierce’s absence, led all players with 20 points and hit 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Each of Haluksa’s three first half 3-pointers either tied the game or gave Iowa the lead.
“They shot the ball well,” said NU swingman Tim Doyle, who scored 10 points off the bench. “And it seems like they’re playing more together without Pierce.”
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
