Iowa followed its lowest-scoring game of the season with a 110-point eruption the next time out.
The Hawkeyes will be one week removed from that scorching effort when they host Northwestern in Tuesday’s Big Ten opener in Iowa City, but rust won’t be the only roadblock for a potential repeat showing.
Iowa (6-1) also is bracing for stiffer competition in conference play while navigating an injury to Seydou Traore. The reserve forward suffered a sprained ankle midway through the first half of a 110-77 home rout of South Carolina Upstate on Nov. 26.
Also missing frontcourt contributors Even Brauns and Cooper Koch, the Hawkeyes still flexed their resilience and depth. Brock Harding notched a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds and Owen Freeman netted 17 points as five Iowa players scored in double figures.
“Coming off a loss, going into Thanksgiving break here, we’ve got a couple days off coming, it’d be easy to kinda (think), ‘All right, let’s relax for this one, guys sit out,'” Harding said. “But I think we really locked in.”
Northwestern (6-2) overcame 40.8 percent shooting to defeat UNLV 66-61 in the third-place game of the Arizona Tip-Off on Friday in Tempe, Ariz.
Brooks Barnhizer, a preseason All-Big Ten pick who was sidelined by a foot injury during the Wildcats’ first four games, had team highs of 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He has scored at least 20 points in three of four games.
Northwestern limited UNLV to a 42.1 percent effort from the floor. Matthew Nicholson propelled the defense with two of the Wildcats’ seven steals to go with two blocks.
“We’re a defensive-minded team and, you know, our identity is just getting stops,” Barnhizer said. “Everything else will take care of itself. So, the older guys were trying to come out here and do that tonight and I think we did a pretty good job of it.”
Strong ‘D’ helped Northwestern’s ball movement, too, as the Wildcats assisted on 15 of 20 made field goals. Northwestern went 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from long range to improve to 3-0 this season when connecting on 40 percent of its 3-point shots or better.
–Field Level Media
