Gamecenter: Cornell 50, Iowa 65

Posted on by Jake Wilson in Cornell, Gamecenter, Ivy League
1st 2nd Final
Cornell (4-7) 23 27 50
Iowa (8-6) 27 38 65
Carver-Hawkeye Arena – Iowa City, IA Boxscore
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Cornell trailed by just two with under 10 minutes left after Geoff Reeves’s three-pointer, but the next five minutes proved to be decisive. Adam Haluska got things going for the hosts with a three nearly 90 seconds later, then after two Big Red turnovers sandwiched around a Hawkeye turnover, Tyler Smith dunked to put Iowa up seven. Ryan Wittman gave the ball back, then Smith’s three-point play made it a double-digit game. Brian Kreefer couldn’t find the range on a shot from the outside, and Tony Freeman showed how it was done with a three-pointer that capped off an 11-0 Iowa run and made it a 53-40 game with 5:47 left.
Key sign it was over Kreefer gave Cornell hope with a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 11 with 3:38 remaining. But Freeman found Smith for another dunk , and Haluska came up with a steal, then hit a three-pointer to push the Iowa advantage to 16. The two teams traded turnovers before Graham Dow missed a layup. Haluska sank a jumper at the other end to make it a 65-47 game with just over two minutes left, and the contested portion of the game came to an end.
Key performance Haluska stayed white-hot with a game-high 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting, including 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. The Big Ten Player of the Week also contributed four steals, three rebounds, an assist, and a block in 35 minutes.
Key statistic Cornell was just 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) inside the three-point arc for the game. Some of that was intimidation by the Hawkeyes, who blocked 10 shots on the afternoon. But with Iowa shooting 17 of 26 (65.4 percent) on two-point attempts, it’s no surprise the hosts owned a 24-12 edge in the paint.
Notes

– Wittman was the leading scorer for the Big Red with 13 points, but shot just 3 of 10 from three and 5 of 17 overall. Kreefer was the only other Cornell player in double figures with 10.

– Cornell jumped out to a 10-3 lead and was in front for most of the first half before going scoreless in the final 3:20 as Iowa took a 27-23 lead into halftime.

– After holding Iowa in check in the first half, Cornell allowed 16-of-22 (72.7 percent) field goal shooting in the final 20 minutes as the Hawkeys blew open a previously close contest.

– The Big Red had turnover problems, committing 20 in the game, which turned into 24 points for the Hawkeyes.

– Iowa native Andrew Naeve had a decent game in his homecoming, tallying nine points, bringing down seven rebounds, and dishing out three assists to go with a block.

– Cornell will look to snap its four-game losing streak when it travels to Hamilton to face regional rival Colgate (5-7) on Wednesday, January 3 at 7:00 pm ET.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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