The Iowa Hawkeyes closed out the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands with a 78-72 loss to Long Beach State. The Hawks led by 12 in the opening half before Long Beach rallied to within two at the halftime break. They took the lead for good with a 10-2 run to open the second half as the Hawkeyes fall to 2-3 on the season.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says Long Beach went to a zone and they couldn’t hit baskets against it. Long Beach State outrebounded the Hawks 46-37 and had 21 rebounds on the offensive end. He says they let Long Beach get too many wide open three’s.
McCaffrey says the game was lost by giving up too many rebounds as he says when you give up that many, you are not going to beat anybody.
Bryce Cartwright came off the bench to score 17 points to lead Iowa, Eric May added 15 as the Hawks drop to 2-3. Greg Plater led Long Beach State with 18 points.