Saturday, March 23, 2019 ● The Gazette 1B

SPORTS
LATE NIGHT WITH CY NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Iowa escapes Mercer in opener

USA Today Sports
Iowa State Cyclones mascot Cy the
Cardinal performs during the first half
against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the
first round of the 2019 NCAA Tourna-
ment last night at BOK Center in Tulsa,
Okla. Story, 2B.
Down 4 in fourth quarter, “It feels good to get this
win, no matter how ugly it
Hawks avoid historic loss was,” Gustafson said.
It was plenty ugly.
By Jeff Linder, The Gazette The Hawkeyes (27-6)
committed 24 turnovers,
IOWA CITY — They compared to just three for
kicked the ball around for Mercer (25-8). And some-
most of the game, and early how, they still won.
in the fourth quarter, it ap- “We didn’t see anybody
peared the Iowa Hawkeyes (pressure the entry passes
were about to boot their to the posts), and I didn’t
season away. understand why,” Mercer
In the end, though, they Coach Susie Gardner said.
escaped. Mercer (25-8) held a
Megan Gustafson reg- shocking 56-52 lead when
istered 30 points and 16 KeKe Calloway drained a
rebounds, and Hannah 3-pointer with 7:03 remain-
Stewart made the key bas- ing.
kets down the stretch as Gustafson answered
eighth-ranked Iowa fought with the next five points,
past Mercer, 66-61, in an including a three-point play
Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette
NCAA women’s basketball to put Iowa in front, 57-56. Iowa players, including guard Tania Davis (11) and center Megan Gustafson
first-round game at Carver- (10), celebrate their NCAA women’s basketball tournament first-round win
Hawkeye Arena. ;; HAWKS, PAGE 5B over Mercer on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Iowa won, 66-61.

SIDELINE NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

A second-half story
COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Kirkwood advances
to D-II championship
DANVILLE, Ill. — The
Kirkwood men’s basketball
team advance to the NJCAA
Div. II championship game,
beating Erie in a semifinal last
night, 84-70, at the Mary Miller
Center.
The Eagles shot 78.3 per-
cent in the first half (18 of 23),
including 6 of 7 from 3-point
range, building a 50-29 lead,
then held on over the final 20
minutes.
Douglas Wilson led Kirk-
wood (30-4) with 27 points. Al-
lante Pickens added 17 points
and Luke Appel chipped in 10
points.
Kyle Harris had 18 points to
lead Erie (27-5).
The Eagles play Johnson
County, who defeated Cecil,
81-78, last night, at 7:30 to-
night.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Gophers end Panthers’

season in WNIT opener
MINNEAPOLIS — North-
ern Iowa ended its WNIT run
in the first round last night,
falling to Minnesota, 91-75, in
Williams Arena.
Minnesota (21-10) domi-
nated the first half, building
a 52-28 lead by halftime. The
Panthers cut the lead down to
eight points, 77-69, with 4:44
remaining, but the Gophers
answered with a 10-3 run.
Karli Rucker led UNI with COVER Cliff Jette/The Gazette
26 points. Nicole Kroeger add- Iowa forward Nicholas Baer dunks the ball with 26 seconds left in his team’s 79-72 NCAA tournament first-round win over Cincinnati on Friday at Nation-
ed 16 points. wide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
UNI (20-13) fell to 0-11 all-
time against Minnesota. The Hawkeyes stellar after Hawkeyes played a Concerto against fifth-ranked Tennes- it was done with defense. It
Gophers advance to face Cin- in W before a pro-Cincinnati see. Tip-off is set for 11:10 was by staying the course
cinnati in the second round. break in win over Cincinnati crowd in Nationwide Arena. a.m. Iowa time (KGAN). The emotionally while changing
As in they won. As in, they No. 2-seed Volunteers staved it strategically, installing a
COLLEGE BASEBALL By Mike Hlas, The Gazette played a great half of basket- off 15th-seed Colgate here full-court press and a zone
ball in their most important Friday, 77-70. defense that altered a Cin-
Hawkeyes drop COLUMBUS, Ohio — For half in a long time. As in, Oh, what a second half cinnati offense that had done
much of the first half Friday 10th-seeded Iowa 79, sev- Iowa (23-11) had here. It shot a lot of what it wanted before
Big Ten opener in the NCAA tournament, it enth-seeded Cincinnati 72. 65.4 percent from the field, halftime.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — felt like the Iowa men’s bas- As in, there’s more bas- made 7 of 11 3-pointers, and Iowa trailed 18-5 eight
Iowa lost its Big Ten opener ketball team was pushing a ketball to be played for the outscored the Bearcats, 48- minutes into the game, and
last night, falling to Indiana, piano up a hill. Hawkeyes, back here Sun- 36.
3-2, at Bart Kaufman Field. In the second half, the day for a second-round game It was done with offense, ;; IOWA, PAGE 2B
Down 2-0, Iowa rallied to
tie it in the top of the ninth in-
ning. Mitchell Boe scored on a
passed ball and Ben Norman MIKE HLAS I THE GAZETTE
scored on a sacrifice fly by
Austin Martin.
But Indiana (13-8) got an
RBI single from Logan Kaletha
in the bottom half of the in-
Hawks took a punch, then KO’d Cincinnati
ning to walk it off. Grant Leon-
ard took the loss. Iowa starter Iowa has its best half in a Iowa looked overmatched
Cole McDonald had 11 strike- through much of the first
outs over seven innings
meaningful game in ages half. But the older the game
Cole Barr had a solo home got, the more the Hawkeyes

C
run for Iowa (11-8). The two OLUMBUS, Ohio
teams play at 1:05 p.m. today. — It’s not an exag-
geration. This was
JUNIOR HOCKEY the best and most meaning-
ful win a Fran McCaffery-
coached team has earned in
Black Hawks top his nine seasons as Iowa’s
RoughRiders, 3-2 men’s basketball coach.
The Hawkeyes had two
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Wa- other NCAA tournament vic-
terloo Black Hawks topped the tories under McCaffery, but
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, 24th-ranked Cincinnati is the
3-2, in overtime last night at best team that have beaten
looked like the superior
squad. They outscored the
Bearcats by 19 points in the
game’s last 22-and-a-half
minutes.
Turning to a full-court
press and half-court zone
defense, Iowa threw Cincin-
nati’s offense out of sync.
Offensively, the Hawkeyes
featured a vast improvement
in shooting combined with
players who constantly got
© 2019 The Gazette

the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.
Matej Blumel scored in
overtime to win it. Jason Polin
scored early in the third pe-
riod for Cedar Rapids.
The Gazette
in this event. The way they the ball to teammates in the
got the 79-72 triumph made it right places.
Cliff Jette/The Gazette all the more satisfying, rally- That may have seemed
Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon reacts as the clock runs out on the Hawkeyes’ ing from an early 18-5 deficit, like science-fiction in the
79-72 NCAA tournament victory over Cincinnati on Friday at Nationwide and trailing by seven points
Arena in Columbus, Ohio. with 13:45 left in the game. ;; HLAS, PAGE 2B
2B The Gazette ● Saturday, March 23, 2019

NCAA TOURNAMENT
OHIO STATE 62, IOWA STATE 59

Buckeyes slow down, oust ISU in opener

By Ben Visser, correspondent
work early on the block down low on the offen- key for Iowa State as
and used his 6-foot-9, sive end against Wes- it goes on the runs and
TULSA, Okla. — Ohio 270-pound frame to bully son and finished with droughts is on the defen-
State dictated the pace Iowa State’s post players. 12 points on an efficient sive end of the floor; as
all night against Iowa Wesson finished with 6-of-7 shooting. long as the defense keeps
State last night in the 21 points and 12 re- ISU Coach Steve it close, he feels the of-
first round of the NCAA bounds. Prohm knows his team is fense will figure it out.
Tournament. Iowa State only found streaky. As a perimeter- The Cyclones did that
The Buckeyes played production from three oriented team, the Cy- in the first half, holding
within their methodical players. Marial Shayok, clones are prone to scor- Ohio State to just 26 first-
half-court sets, pounded Lindell Wigginton and ing droughts, as well as half points while scoring
the paint, and was able to Cameron Lard were the booms. In the first half, 24 points of their own to
get back in transition to only players to make Iowa State started the only trail by 2.
slow Iowa State down. more than one field goal game just 1-of-7 from the Iowa State had scoring
No. 11-seed Ohio State in the game. Shayok led field, then went on 15-2 droughts of 3:09, 3:52 and
beat sixth-seeded Iowa the way with 23 points on scoring run and ended 5:02 in the first half.
State, 62-59. 9-of-17 shooting. Wiggin- the half 1-of-13 from the Iowa State picked it
The Cyclones were ton provided good min- floor. The Cyclones fin- back up in the second
battered, bruised and utes off the bench and ished the first half shoot- half, shooting 15-of-26 USA Today Sports
beaten in the post against scored 14 points on 4-of-8 ing just 8-of-27 from the from the field, but it Iowa State guard Marial Shayok (left) drives against Ohio State
Ohio State’s Kaleb Wes- shooting. field. wasn’t enough. guard Musa Jallow (2) during the first half of their first-round NCAA
son. Wesson went to Lard went to work Prohm has said the l Comments: benv43@gmail.com Tournament game last night at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Hlas/A long list

of Hawkeye heroes
;; FROM PAGE 1B
game’s first eight min-
utes, when the Hawk-
eyes fell behind 18-5
and seemed to be giving
10-seeds a bad name.
“They came out and
threw the first punch,”
McCaffery said, “got
up 18-5. We got to the
rim three times in that
stretch and none of
them went in. That can
snowball on you. But
we crawled back into
the game with our press
and zone, made enough
shots, and made a little
run at the end of the
first half.”
It was 36-31 at half-
time. Iowa took a lead
early in the second half,
allowed eight straight
Cliff Jette photos/The Gazette points, fought back to
Iowa guard Joe Wieskamp (10) turns to face the Hawkeye fans after sinking a 3-point shot against Cincinnati during the second half of tie the game twice, then
an NCAA tournament first-round game Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. moved in front for good
with 4:04 left on a Luka
you’re talking about.
“I know I’m not the
quickest guard, but I’m
really smart with my
angles.”
Nicholas Baer scored
all 10 of his points after
halftime and was on the
court when it was win-
ning time.
“We’re not afraid of
the moment,” Baer said.
How about Con-
nor McCaffery? The
freshman point guard
didn’t join his team for
warmups until shortly
before game-time. He
played only 11 minutes,
but had two assists, and
popped in a second-half
3-pointer. He was able
to play 11 minutes.
“I woke up this
morning feeling not
very good,” McCaffery
said. “I went to break-
fast, the team meal,
then I started throwing

Iowa/Maestros after half

;; FROM PAGE 1B
it felt like the Hawkeyes’
season might be over be-
fore lunchtime.
“So we made some
adjustments,” Hawkeyes
Coach Fran McCaffery
said. “We changed the
defense. We changed
some personnel a little
bit. You start pushing
some different buttons.
“But I think the
critical thing is that the
players maintained con-
fidence. You don’t start
screaming and yelling at
them, blaming them be-
cause they didn’t rotate
and block out.
“If I’m spazzing and
yelling at everybody
for that, they’re not
going to lock in on what
we need to do with
offense, what defense
are we in, who is on the
floor for them, where is
(Jarron) Cumberland,
who do we need to get
the ball to?”
Cumberland, Cincin-
nati’s ace junior guard,
got his typical 18 points.
But he never took con-
trol of the game, and
missed 6 of 9 3-pointers.
The Bearcats were with-
out someone who put
the game on their shoul-
ders as it grew late. The
Hawkeyes had a court-
full of players willing
and able to do so.
“It seemed like every-
body made a big shot,”
said Iowa senior forward
Nicholas Baer, who came
up huge with all 10 of his
points after halftime.
One of those big
shots came before
intermission. Jordan
Bohannon hit a short
jumper to beat the first-
half buzzer and reduce
Iowa forward Luka Garza (55) is fouled as he attempts a shot
under pressure from Cincinnati guards Keith Williams (2) and
Rashawn Fredericks (10) during the second half.
capped a 10-4 run to end
the half and put some
good feelings in Iowa’s
locker room.
“Coach McCaffery
always talks about it,”
Hawkeye freshman
guard Joe Wieskamp
said after his 19-point de-
but in this tourney. “It’s
the anatomy of the game.
They’re going to make
punches, they’re going to
have runs. But it’s how
we handle that and how
we react to it.”
The fact is, Iowa didn’t
handle it in four losses of
14 or more points in their
previous six games. The
difference Friday?
“Making shots is prob-
ably the top,” Bohannon
said. “Making shots is
what we haven’t been
doing in the games we’ve
lost, the last five of six
games. It hasn’t been
fun.”
Iowa’s second half,
however, was as fun as
give Iowa a 40-39 lead
with 16:24 left, but the
Bearcats ripped off eight
straight points to put the
Hawkeyes back on their
heels.
So the Hawkeyes went
back to scaling that hill.
Five minutes later, Con-
nor McCaffery swished a
3-pointer to give Iowa a
53-52 lead.
Again, the Bearcats
withstood the charge, go-
ing up 59-55. It was their
last real flurry. Iowa
had a 7-0 run, with back-
to-back threes by Wies-
kamp and Baer. Cincin-
nati tied the game at 62,
then Iowa’s Luka Garza
scored on an inbounds
pass with 4:04 remaining
for two of his game-high
20 points, and the Hawk-
eyes began pulling away
for keeps.
Bohannon scored off
a drive. Wieskamp hit
another three. Bohan-
non scored off another
Garza lay-in. up when I got back to
Garza is one name on my room. I threw up
a long list of Friday’s four or five times, in my
Hawkeye heroes. Tyler room and once when
Cook was the player we got to the arena.
missing most of those “I came here and
Name
IOWA (79)
Min FG Att FT Att RB A TP chippies early, and had just laid on the table. I
Luka Garza 32 8 11 2 3 7 0 20 just five points on 1-of- wanted to try to go out
Tyler Cook 20 1 9 3 5 5 4 5 9 shooting. But Garza
Jordan Bohannon 38 5 10 2 4 5 4 13 for warmups. I went out
Isaiah Moss 24 1 3 0 0 1 2 5 produced a lot of low- for a minute and they
Joe Wieskamp 33 6 8 3 4 5 1 19 post production with
Ryan Kriener 13 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 said I looked terrible,
Maishe Dailey 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 his 20 points. His team so I came back. I got my
Connor McCaffery 11 1 2 0 0 0 2 3
scored 15 more points
Nicholas Baer 22 4 6 0 0 4 1 10 IV. Once I got that IV, I
Team 5 than Cincinnati when tried to give it the best
Team totals 200 29 53 10 16 33 15 79
he was in the game.
3-point goals (11-22, 50 percent): Garza shot I could.”
2-3, Bohannon 1-4, Moss 1-3, Wieskamp 4-6, “We just needed to Cook, who struggled
McCaffery 1-2, Baer 2-4. Steals (1): Wieskamp. stay confident with
Blocked shots (3): Garza, Cook, Wieskamp. so mightily with his own
Turnovers (14): Moss 3, Bohannon 2, Wieskamp each other,” Garza said. offense, found an open
2, Kriener 2, Baer 2, Garza, Cook, McCaffery. “We know what we’re
Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. McCaffery with 11:08 left
CINCINNATI (72) capable of. We keep in the game. The fresh-
Name Min FG Att FT Att RB A TP saying that but it’s true.
man didn’t hesitate,
Tre Scott 37 4 8 2 2 7 0 10 We know what we can despite being 5-of-28 be-
Nysier Brooks 20 5 8 1 2 5 0 11
do when we play at our
Keith Williams 26 2 5 0 0 6 1 4
Justin Jenifer 36 7 12 2 2 4 2 19
hind the arc this season
best.” before the shot.
Jarron Cumberland 39 7 17 1 2 1 4 18
Freshman Joe Wies-
Cane Broome 19 3 9 2 4 2 1 8
Mamoudou Diarra 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
“T.C. did a great
Trevor Moore 9 0 3 2 2 1 1 2 kamp had 19 points, in- drive-and-kick,” McCaf-
Eliel Nsoseme 7 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 cluding a 3-pointer with
Rashwan Fredericks 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 fery said. “I’m thinking
Logan Johnson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1:45 left in the middle of ‘Make this,’ and I did.”
Team 4 a 8-0 run that gave the
Team totals 200 28 65 10 14 32 9 72 “Connor was sick,”
Hawkeyes the hammer. Fran McCaffery said.
3-point goals (6-27, 22.2 percent): Scott 0-1,
Williams 0-2, Jenifer 3-7, Cumberland 3-9, “I tried not to think “The way he played
Broome 0-4, Moore 0-3, Fredericks 0-1. Steals about how big a stage
(4): Scott, Williams, Cumberland, Nsoseme. was phenomenal.”
Blocked shots (3): Brooks 2, Scott. Turnovers this truly was,” Wies- Was the second-half
(7): Cumberland 2, Scott, Williams, Jenifer, kamp said.
Broome, team. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Brooks. Iowa’s best mental half
Halftime: Cincinnati 36, Iowa 31
Attendance: n/a
Jordan Bohannon of ball this season?
Officials: Ron Groover, Tim Clougherty, Steven showed a different twist “I think that’s a fair
Anderson to his scoring capabil- statement,” Fran Mc-
ity. The 3-point special- Caffery said.
ist scored off drives As 20-minute blocks
on a breakaway, courte- twice in the final 2:37. that meant something
sy of one of Tyler Cook’s “I’m not a point go, it was as good as
four assists. guard,” Bohannon said this program has seen
It was 77-69 with 26 facetiously when asked in a long time.
seconds left, and the about his dribble-drives, l Comments: (319) 368-8840;
Hawkeyes were headed “so I don’t know what mike.hlas@thegazette.com
to their third NCAA win
in McCaffery’s nine-year
Iowa tenure, and the first
as a lower seed.
“We stuck together,”
Wieskamp said. “You
just had to take it one
possession at a time, lock
in defensively, try to
get into their space, box
out.”
Yes, defense. The dirti-
est word in last season’s
vocabulary describing
the 14-19 Hawkeyes of
last season was said with
pride by Iowa’s players
after this game.
© 2019 The Gazette

Cincinnati’s lead to 36-31.
That 18-5 deficit built
on a 14-0 UC run had
been narrowed to 24-
19, but the Bearcats
shot it back up to 32-21.
Bohannon’s bucket
anything a person can le-
gally do in Columbus on
a Friday afternoon.
It didn’t all come
together immediately
after halftime. Bohan-
non made a bomb to
dribble-drive, was fouled,
and converted the 3-point
play. Wieskamp made
two free throws. Baer put
the exclamation point on
things by jamming the
ball through the basket
And now, a chance for
Iowa’s first Sweet 16 ap- Cliff Jette/The Gazette
pearance in 20 years. Iowa forward Tyler Cook (25) tries to drive past Cincinnati
forward Trevon Scott (13) during the second half of an NCAA
l Comments: (319) 368-8840; tournament first-round game Friday at Nationwide Arena in Co-
mike.hlas@thegazette.com lumbus, Ohio.