Iowa proves itself at Purdue with furious second-half rally
The lingering question in the wake of Iowa’s one-sided victory over top-ranked Michigan State on Thursday night was what exactly the Hawkeyes proved by winning.
Were they the Big Ten contenders they appeared to be that night or did they merely take advantage of the vulnerability of a Spartans team weakened by the loss of injured star Denzel Valentine?
It’s probably too soon to draw sweeping conclusions one way or the other, but Iowa certainly validated itself further on Saturday night. The Hawkeyes rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit and defeated 14th-ranked Purdue 70-63 in West Lafayette.
The key to the comeback was Iowa’s trapping 1-2-2 press, which bothered a Purdue team whose point guards are its biggest weakness. The Boilermakers sank only 8 of 26 second-half field goal attempts and committed 10 of their 14 turnovers after halftime.
Whereas Jarrod Uthoff scored 16 of Iowa’s 20 first-half points, the Hawkeyes’ standout forward received more help in the second half. Uthoff finished with a team-high 25 points, but guards Peter Jok, Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons had a combined 26. Walk-on Nicholas Baer buried the game’s biggest shot, a three with 6:30 to play to give Iowa a 51-48 lead that it maintained the rest of the game.
With a pair of victories over Michigan State and Purdue along with non-league wins over Marquette, Wichita State and Florida State, Iowa (11-3) has a strong case to crack the AP Top 25 on Monday. More importantly, the Hawkeyes are off to a good start against a frontloaded Big Ten schedule that includes visits to Michigan State and Maryland and home games against Michigan and Purdue before January is over.
Purdue’s elite defense is good enough to keep it competitive in every game it plays, but the Boilermakers lack of point guard play could lead to more losses like this one. They scored at will in the paint when they got it to their big men but they were undone by mediocre outside shooting and far too many second-half turnovers.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
