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 Sparked by a 10-0 run to start the game, the Hawkeyes routed the
Wildcats 93-67 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
McCaffery was suspended for Thursday's game by the Big Ten
Conference for his action in the Hawkeyes' Sunday loss at Wisconsin,
when he was ejected and bumped an official. McCaffery was with the
team Thursday for its pregame shootaround and team meal, but he left
before either squad took the floor for warmups.
"Very proud of our guys tonight," said Iowa assistant coach Kirk
Speraw, who coached in McCaffery's absence Thursday. "They really
approached the week with great maturity and focus. I thought they
executed the game plan very well tonight."
Junior forward Aaron White and senior forward Melsahn Basabe were
the Hawkeyes' key contributors, both finishing with double-doubles.
White, who shot 10-for-10 from the foul line, had 18 points and 10
rebounds. Basabe tallied 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting, and he
grabbed 10 boards.
"I've missed two in the past two games, and maybe last year, I might
have accepted that because I didn't shoot as good a number as I have
this year," White said about his performance from the free-throw
line. "I've got the confidence to knock them down. I hate missing
free throws, so that number was nice to have."
Iowa (13-3, 2-1 Big Ten) also received double-figure scoring
performances from senior guard Roy Devyn Marble (15 points on 5-of-7
shooting) and sophomore center Adam Woodbury (10 points).
Northwestern (7-9, 0-3) was led by its duo of junior guard JerShon
Cobb and senior forward Drew Crawford.
Cobb had 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting and led the Wildcats with
seven rebounds. He fouled out of the game with 4:28 remaining and
Northwestern down 78-57. Crawford provided 12 points on 5-of-12
shooting.
"We really haven't had both of them going on the same night,"
Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "For us, our margin of error
is very small. We need good players to play really well."
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The Hawkeyes led 41-26 at halftime.
Iowa started hot, and Northwestern didn't score its first bucket
until there was 15:10 left in the first half.
The Wildcats clawed back within 15-10 before tempers flared on
the court. Double fouls were called on Iowa forward Zach McCabe
and Northwestern guard Dave Sobolewski with 10:55 to go before
halftime. McCabe also received a technical foul, as did
Crawford.
Once play resumed, the Hawkeyes began hitting shots from behind
the arc. Three 3-point buckets — two by sophomore guard Mike
Gesell and another by sophomore forward Jarrod Uthoff — allowed
Iowa to extend its lead back to double figures. As a team, the
Hawkeyes shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half and
8-for-14 for the game.
"Really, it was the defensive intensity. We picked it back up
once me and Whitey got back in," Marble said. "We got a couple
of steals and got out running in transition and really just
expanded that lead. Coach Speraw was really getting into us,
wanting us to make sure that we played for 40 minutes because we
didn't do that against Wisconsin."
Iowa's next game is Sunday at No. 3 Ohio State (15-1, 2-1).
Northwestern returns home to play No. 23 Illinois (13-3, 2-1) on
Sunday.
NOTES: Coaching in Fran McCaffery's place was assistant coach
Kirk Speraw, who came to Iowa with McCaffery in 2010 after
serving as Central Florida's head coach for 17 seasons. Speraw
also filled in after McCaffery was ejected from Iowa's game last
weekend against Wisconsin. ... Senior F Melsahn Basabe became
the third active Iowa player to reach 1,000 points for his
career. F Aaron White and G Roy Devyn Marble both previously
reached that plateau for the Hawkeyes. ... Northwestern junior G
JerShon Cobb reached double figures scoring for the first time
since Dec. 7, when the Wildcats defeated Western Michigan 51-35.
Cobb finished with 11 points against the Broncos.
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