AMES, IA – Iowa dug itself into a hole offensively – 12-turnovers deep, to be exact – in the final half, and Iowa State used a second-half surge to climb out of a halftime deficit in the Cyclones’ 84-78 win over the Hawkeyes Thursday night in Hilton Coliseum.
Jordan Bohannon found his stroke against Iowa State, scoring 19 points and hitting 5 3-pointers, but Iowa could not connect on shots when it needed to.
“We had them in the first half,” Bohannon said. “We just didn’t lock in… we didn’t play 40 minutes together.”
Missed opportunities, like a pair of Brady Ellingson misses from 3-point range on the same possession late in the game, proved to be too tall to overcome.
The Hawkeyes dominated the boards. Iowa’s 53 rebounds (20 of which were offensive) came close to doubling Iowa State’s 31, but the Hawkeyes’ inability to hold onto the ball in the second half smothered any hopes at spoiling Hilton Magic.
After only giving the ball away six times in the first half, the Hawkeyes committed enough turnovers to start a bakery in half No. 2. At the same time, the Cyclones outscored the Hawkeyes, 48-37, in the final half.
“53-31 on the glass, you’re supposed to win,” head coach Fran McCaffery said. “18 turnovers leading to 28 points, that’s why we lost.”
Thursday marked the third-straight game in which the Hawkeyes turned the ball over 18 times.
Meanwhile, Iowa forced only 8 Cyclone turnovers, resulting in a mere 9 points.
“When we had consecutive turnovers in the second half, they fed off of that, especially in this environment,” Nicholas Baer said. “They were able to go on a spurt, go on a run, and take a 9 or 10-point led.”
Iowa State built its largest lead of the game, a 10-point gap, with 4:20 remaining in the game.
From there, Iowa chipped away at the lead, but it was too little too late.
Bohannon nailed a 3-pointer and Cordell Pemsl followed up with a layup to cut Iowa State’s lead to only 5 points with just more than 3 minutes remaining in the game.
Another Bohannon 3-pointer cut the deficit to 4 points at the 2:29 mark.
Bohannon found his stroke after scoring fewer than 10 points in back-to-back games, and by starting Ellingson alongside Bohannon, the sophomore guard found open space.
Having two shooters, both capable of playing the point, created a gap in the defense along the perimeter, specifically for Bohannon, who was due for a bounce-back effort.
Bohannon had some help on offense, as Jack Nunge and Pemsl contributed double-digit scoring performances.
Nunge scored 16 and added 8 rebounds and 4 assists, but only hit 1 of his 5 3-point attempts. Pemsl scored 10 points and came close to a double-double, picking up 8 rebounds in 17 minutes.
Pemsl, however, didn’t make it through the full game. After crashing into the baseline, the sophomore forward injured his leg, and it appeared to be somewhat serious.
“He’s on the way to the hospital to get it evaluated,” McCaffery said. “We thought it might have been worse than it is, but we won’t know until he gets there and is properly evaluated. I guess he ran into a chair. Had a big chunk out of his leg. We’re hoping it’s not broken, I don’t think it is, I hope it’s not. He played great. I’m really proud of him.”
Now, the Hawkeyes shift their focus to Southern for a 4 p.m. showdown in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Dec. 10.
