The Iowa Hawkeyes took control early in the second half and raced away to a 68-52 win over Indiana State in the opening round of the NIT. The Hawkeyes overcame a slow start that saw them rally from eight points down in the opening half to take a 31-30 lead at the break.
Coach Fran McCaffery says it took everything they had to come out and get the lead and then they continued to extend it. The Sycamores hit back to back three pointers to open the game and led it 23-15 before the Hawkeyes roared back. The Hawks held Indiana State guard Jake Odum to five points on just two of six from the field.
“We used our size, we corralled him off of ball screens, we didn’t go for shot fakes, we didn’t foul him,” McCafferey says.
Zach McCabe had all eight of his points during a less than two minutes span of the second half as the Hawks built the lead to 13 points.
“We just came out slow, sluggish, we just can’t do that,” McCabe says. He says once they woke up they started playing their game and started getting stops on defense.
Roy Devyn Marble had 24 points to lead the Hawks who will return to action at home Friday night to host a Stony Brook team that upset UMass on the road.