Iowa dominates Davidson

SEATTLE — Consider that 14-year itch scratched.

In dominating fashion, the Iowa men's basketball team won its first NCAA tournament game since 2001 with an 83-52 victory against Davidson in a South Regional game last night at KeyArena.

The 31-point margin of victory was the largest in the school's 53-game NCAA tournament history, and Iowa's performance was every bit as dominant as the scoreboard indicated. The Hawkeyes (22-11) held the Atlantic-10 regular-season champion Wildcats (24-8) to nearly 30 points below its season average. Davidson hit only six of 28 3-point attempts — almost five fewer makes than on average — and 21.4 percent from 3-point range, about half its usual percentage.

That's not magic. It's a defensive effort crafted in a week of intense practices and executed on the biggest stage for Iowa basketball in nine years.

'A team like this who constantly is in motion, constantly cutting, four, five 3-pointer shooters on the floor, you've got to be locked in each and every possession,' Iowa senior Aaron White said. 'Credit to us, we were able to do that.'

Davidson guard Tyler Kalinoski, the A-10's player of the year, was held to five points on 2-of-9 shooting. Iowa forward Jarrod Uthoff locked on defensively to Kalinoski. That was his job all week in prep, and he forced the issue last night.

'He's got a terrific skill set, and I just tried to lock him up,' Uthoff said. 'Every time we did scout, I was guarding who we determined was Kalinoski. I think he had a hard time with my length. He's a great player. I did the best I could on him.'

The defensive effort transitioned to Iowa's offensive output. The Hawkeyes used a major size advantage to run its fast break. The Hawkeyes out-rebounded Davidson 46-30 and hit 50.7 percent of their shots. Against an up-tempo team in Davidson, Iowa played at the fast pace it prefers but rarely executes in Big Ten play.

White spurred the Hakeyes' attack early in the second half. He scored 13 consecutive points in one stretch for Iowa and tallied 26 overall. It was his sixth consecutive game with at least 20 points, a program-high since Greg Stokes in 1985. After hitting a hook shot to put Iowa up 51-40, White stole the ball at midcourt and scored against to go up 13.

Two possessions later, White dunked. Then it was a layup, followed by a 3-pointer and an inside bucket. He finished 11 of 14 from the floor and pulled down six rebounds in 35 minutes.

'There's a stretch there where I was just feeling confident, feeling good with my shot, with my hook shot and I was finishing around the basket,' White said.

'When have you somebody of his caliber and his character, you try to use him in a variety of different ways,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'The thing that's beautiful about him is he can dominate a game and not score 26. But when he gets going, it's incumbent upon me and my staff to get him the ball. ... When he gets going like that, it becomes infectious to the rest of the team.'

Iowa point guard Mike Gesell added 15 points, and Peter Jok scored 12.

The Hawkeyes will face the Gonzaga-North Dakota State winner at 6:10 p.m. Sunday.

In the first half, Davidson took a 13-12 lead on a 3-pointer from Brian Sullivan. Then it was off to the races for Iowa.

The Hawkeyes regained the lead on a putback from Gabe Olaseni. Davidson quickly turned over the ball when its inbouding player stepped over the line. On Iowa's inbound pass, Gesell lobbed to White for a dunk to boost Iowa's led to 16-15.

After a Davidson basket, Olaseni scored and was fouled to push the lead back to three. On Iowa's next possession, Kalinoski fouled White, who knocked down two free throws. It was Kalinoski's third foul, and the Atlantic-10's player of the year didn't play for the final 8:20.

Iowa took advantage, rolling to an 18-4 run. Jok drilled two 3-pointers on the surge, and Adam Woodbury rebounded a White miss for a thunderous dunk.

'I was just fortunate nobody came and boxed me out,' Woodbury said. 'I had a free lane and I was fortunate the ball came my way and I put it in.'

Iowa out-rebounded Davidson 24-15 in the first half and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds. The Hawkeyes scored 10 second-chance points and 18 in the paint. Perhaps most important, Iowa forced Davidson to shoot just 28.6 percent from 3-point range. The Wildcats ranked 13th nationally at 39.7 percent entering the game.

Iowa's 31-point margin of victory was its largest in an NCAA tournament game. In 1955, Iowa beat Penn State by 29 in the Sweet Sixteen.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com