Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Northwestern Rally Falls Short Against Iowa, 67-62
3/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2008
Box Score | Quotes
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern nearly returned the favor to Iowa. Two weeks after the Hawkeyes rallied back from a 14-point second-half deficit to earn a two-point victory in Iowa City, the Wildcats cut a late 13-point deficit to one on four occasions but was unable to get over the hump in falling 67-62 Tuesday evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Jake Kelly led Iowa (13-18, 6-12) with 18 points, while Kevin Coble had 15 and Michael Thompson added 14 for Northwestern (8-20, 1-16).
The Hawkeyes jumped on the Wildcats early, racing out to a 28-11 advantage just over 12 minutes into the contest. However, NU finally got things going as it held Iowa scoreless for nearly seven minutes while rattling off 13 consecutive points to get back within four at 28-24.
The visitors would eventually take a 33-27 advantage into the break.
Iowa built its lead back up to 13 at 56-43, an advantage it maintained with under six minutes to go. Even though things looked bleak for Northwestern, the 'Cats refused to go down without a fight.
NU picked up its defensive intensity and forced the Hawkeyes into turnovers that it was able to convert into points. Baskets by Nikola Baran and Coble preceded a steal and a breakaway layup by Craig Moore, his first field goal of the game with 5:13 left.
Following an offensive foul, Jeremy Nash banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to get Northwestern within four. The Wildcats got another stop on the defensive end and Baran hit a pair from the free throw line to get NU within two still with 3:57 left.
Nash picked up another steal and was fouled going the basket, but could only convert one of two free throw attempts to prevent Northwestern from getting back to even. After Cyrus Tate split a pair from the line on the other end, Moore was fouled going up for a 3-point attempts and was sent to the charity stripe with a chance to give the Wildcats the lead.
However, the 86-percent free throw shooter was only able to convert on one of three attempts to keep NU down by one. Freeman responded with a 3-pointer on the other end to put Iowa back up four before Moore finally drilled a trey of his own to make it a one-point game again with two minutes left.
But Kelly knocked down his fourth triple of the night to make it a two-possession game once again. Moore came right back again and had another answer from 3-point range to get Northwestern within one for a fourth time.
Nash's third steal of the game with one minute left gave the Wildcats the chance to take the lead, but Thompson's pull-up jumper from 10 feet came up just short. NU was able to get Justin Johnson to miss on the other end with the shot clock winding down, but the Wildcats were whistled for a loose-ball foul on the rebound.
Seth Gorney, who hadn't scored all night, stepped up and hit two free throws to put Iowa ahead by three with 14 seconds left. On the other end, Coble was able to get loose for a good look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the key, but his try was just off the mark. Gorney was fouled and hit two more from the line to seal the win for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa finished with 12 3-pointers in the contest in 23 attempts and shot 55.0 percent from the field overall to 41.5 percent for Northwestern. NU forced 16 turnovers by the Hawkeyes while committing just seven itself. The Wildcats finished with a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers and an 18-0 edge in bench points.
The Wildcats conclude their regular season Saturday when it hosts Big Ten leader Wisconsin at 2 p.m.
