The Iowa basketball team took out their anger on the Cyclones last night beating ISU 98-84 in what could was a considerably aggressive contest.
If you’re an Iowa basketball fan, you loved last night. The ball seemed to always bounce in Iowa’s favor, the Hawks handedly smacked the Cyclones around all night, and there was a bit of tensions flaring adding to the drama of the evening. After watching the Michigan State disaster, it was exactly what the Hawks needed to get back on the winning track and against their heated rivals nonetheless.
For the first ten minutes of the game, these two teams came out firing, trading blows left and right, and at the 11 minute mark, the score was tied 24-24.
That was the closest Iowa State would be to having a lead for the rest of the game though. The Iowa basketball team went on 10-0 run before Iowa State finally made a basket five minute later and began chipping away at the lead. Kudos to Steve Prohm’s squad because they were able to bring the game to within three points before Iowa closed out the half with a quick four points including a Tyler Cook put back dunk with less than a second remaining.
It was quite the offensive explosion for the Hawks in the first half, and they continued to build on the momentum in the second half. In fact, they were leading by as much as 20 points with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game.
The final score would be 98-84, but the action didn’t stop there as Iowa State’s two leading scorers Mariel Shayok and Michael Jacobson played the role of sore losers perfectly, knocking the ball out of Connor McCaffery’s hands for zero reason. This wasn’t the first time Jacobson and McCaffery tussled in the evening, but it was finally the last as the referees quickly broke up the “fight”.
Offensively, the basket seemed to look like an ocean to the men’s Iowa basketball team. Tyler Cook led the team in scoring with 26 points on 12-16 shooting. He also added in 11 rebounds. To sum up Cook’s game, he couldn’t be contained against Iowa State. They literally had no answers for him.
Right behind him in scoring was the hot shooting Isaiah Moss who was hot all night draining 4-5 three-pointers to bring his total points to 20. Reserve forward Nicholas Baer also added four three-pointers of his own as he poured in 14 points and added seven rebounds to his stat line.
Overall, it was an impressive display from an Iowa basketball team that had a rough week losing to both Wisconsin and Michigan State. Oddly enough, despite reaching their season high in scoring, they had one of their lowest free attempt totals (23) of the season, but that’s what happens when you shoot over 50% from three-point and over 57% from the field.
After nine games, the Iowa basketball team has a short break as it is finals week in Iowa City. Their next game will take place against the University of Northern Iowa next Saturday, December 15.