Iowa 92, Fairleigh Dickinson 59

[December 10, 2013]  IOWA CITY, Iowa — No. 22 Iowa 92, Fairleigh Dickinson 59: Melsahn Basabe finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the host Hawkeyes cruised past the Knights to continue their best start since 2004.

Gabriel Olaseni (14 points and 10 rebounds) and Jarrod Uthoff (10 points and 10 boards) each posted his second career double-double for Iowa (10-1), which collected 19 offensive boards and handily outrebounded Fairleigh Dickinson 54-32. Zach McCabe added 10 points to round out the four Hawkeyes who scored in double figures.

Mathias Seilund led the way with 19 points for the Knights (3-9), who have dropped three straight by at least 15 points. Sidney Sanders Jr. shot 5-of-20 from the field and ended up with 16 points.

Fairleigh Dickinson scored the first six points as Iowa missed its first four shots, but the Hawkeyes fired back with the next 19 points over a 6:39 span to establish a double-digit margin they did not relinquish. Following a stretch in which the Knights hit four of their next five field goals, Iowa closed the first half by scoring 20 of the final 30 points.

The Hawkeyes held Fairleigh Dickinson to one field goal over the first seven minutes of the second half and continued to pull away, leading by as many as 35. The Knights shot 32.3 percent from the floor, becoming the ninth Iowa opponent to shoot under 40 percent.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Iowa, which improved to 8-0 against current members of the Northeast Conference, has won 25 straight home games against unranked opponents. …. Seilund’s scoring effort ended Sanders’ 10-game run as the Knights’ leading scorer. … The Hawkeyes finished with eight turnovers, the fourth time in the last eight games they have committed eight or fewer.

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