Last second shot could sink Iowa’s NCAA hopes

Vedran Vukusic hit a jumper with just under a second remaining as Northwestern downed the Iowa Hawkeyes 51-49 in Evanston and prevented the Hawks from clinching a fourth place finish in the Big Ten race.Greg Brunner who led the Hawks with 19-points and 11-rebounds says it’s tough and like a stab in the hear, especially in a game that would’ve guaranteed them fourth place. He says the final play there were six or seven seconds left and he tried to contest the shot, but it was a fadeaway and he couldn’t get close enough to block it.The Hawks played the second half without Pierre Pierce who took a finger in his eye late in the opening half. Iowa coach Steve Alford says they can’t seem to catch a break and came up one play short. Iowa takes an 8-7 Big Ten mark to Purdue to close the regular season. Alford says they haven’t lost two Big Ten games in a row and hopefully the team will bounce back again.Iowa is 15-11 overall.