Iowa drills Indiana 91-77

Tribune News Services

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Freshman Melsahn Basabe scored 20 points, Matt Gatens added 19 and Iowa snapped a six-game losing streak by drilling depleted Indiana 91-77 on Sunday

Freshman Devyn Marble scored a career-high 18 for the Hawkeyes (8-11, 1-6 Big Ten), who picked up their first league win by dominating a Hoosiers team playing without Verdell Jones III.

Jones, who has started 17 games this season and is averaging 12.9 points, is out indefinitely with inflammation in his right knee.
Iowa took advantage, opening with a 20-8 run and maintaining a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

The Hawkeyes shot 57.7 percent from the field, including 65 percent (15 of 23) in the second half.

Christian Watford had a career-high 30 points to lead the Hoosiers (10-10, 1-6), who fell back into a three-way tie with Iowa and Michigan for last place in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes had been done in by awful starts of late, but they jumped all over the Hoosiers early at never let up.

Iowa, which had trailed by at least 11 at halftime in its last four games, stormed out to a 43-33 lead behind 11 early points from Gatens. The Hawkeyes pushed their lead to 51-35 on a pair of crowd-pleasing dunks by May, who threw down a two-hander off a feed from Bryce Cartwright and dribbled the length of the floor for a one-handed jam over traffic.

Marble got into the act with seven quick points, and Basabe's dunk off a loose ball put Iowa ahead 68-51 with 9:37 left.

Indiana's afternoon was perhaps summed up best by Jeremiah Rivers, who was stuffed by the rim on a dunk try about a minute later as his father, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, looked on from the stands.

The Hoosiers had shown signs of progress in thumping Michigan 80-61 and scaring Wisconsin before losing 69-60 Thursday night, but they weren't the same team without Jones.

Jones led Indiana in scoring in both games against Iowa last season, posting 36 points in a pair of losses, and his injury is a major blow to a team that lost sophomore guard Maurice Creek just eight days ago.

Creek needed surgery to fix a stress fracture on his right knee suffered in a win over Michigan last week. Creek started 13 games this season and was averaging 8.3 points.

Iowa's recent woes were due in part to a challenging schedule that featured five ranked teams in its last six games. But that unranked opponent, Northwestern, led by as much as 27 late in the first half in Iowa City on Jan. 12 before cruising to a 90-71 win.

The Hawkeyes had been outscored by Big Ten opponents by nearly 15 points a game entering the game, but they looked a new team against the injury-ravaged Hoosiers.

Matt Roth added 14 points for Indiana, which trailed by as much as 80-59 before a late run made the final score seem closer than the game was.

Iowa honored former coach and player Sharm Scheuerman with a halftime ceremony and by wearing an "SS" patch on their jerseys. Scheuerman, who played on the 1956 Iowa team that lost to Bill Russell and San Francisco in the NCAA title game, passed away last summer.

Source: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2011/01/iowa-drills-indiana-91-77.html

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