Picture-perfect upset for Iowa Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY - Pick a subplot and any one of them can make the lead in a story like this.

Start at the top: Iowa, which entered Saturday tied for last place in the Big Ten, upset No. 6 Purdue 67-65 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Next: Iowa ended a nasty 25-game losing streak to ranked teams dating to 2007. Sprinkle in that Iowa ended a series-record eight-game losing streak to the Boilermakers - its longest against any current opponent.

"We fought in there, we had a lot of close games this year we weren't able to come on top,"  Iowa point guard Bryce Cartwright said. "Today we did."

But wait, there's more. Much more. It was Senior Day, and Iowa senior Jarryd Cole - a three-year captain with more losses on his resume than any other in Hawkeye history - put up 16 points and 10 rebounds against a likely All-American in Purdue center JaJuan Johnson. Cole scored 12 points in the first half to keep the team in contention and hit a jumper late to keep the Hawkeyes four points ahead. 

"This is how I wanted it to go," Cole said. "Very seldom have I got things to go the way I wanted them to here. So this was a blessing here. I really appreciate it."

There's always a gutsy performance in a game like this, and Cartwright provided it. Early in the second half, Cartwright jumped in the air to defend against a Lewis Jackson shot and came down wrong on his leg. His right quad tightened up with cramps, and he barely could walk off the floor. He winced in pain as trainers looked over him, and it appeared his day was done. Cartwright left the floor, but came back to the sideline. He entered the game late in the second half and pushed Iowa forward just as the team started to stagger.

Cartwright took a familiar shot with his team up 63-61 and 28 seconds left. It rattled in and out - like it did in the final second of a tied game against Wisconsin - but this time it bounced in. Fate always works wonders in a story like this.

"It's funny, I thought the one against Wisconsin was going to go in, and this one was going to miss," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. "He definitely had one of those coming his way."

This script needed role performers, and Iowa brought them to the storyline. Sophomore Eric May, who lost his starting position in the midst of a half-season slump, replaced Cartwright for his first-ever minutes at point guard and battled for three points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Devon Archie, who has missed all but once game in the last month with a concussion, grabbed three rebounds, had a block, a steal and two points in his 10 minutes.

"It was a team win in every sense of the word," May said. "Everybody gave quality minutes, everybody picked each other up in a bunch of different areas. It wasn't just points, it wasn't just rebounds, it was a mixture."

Wait, there's still more. Iowa's moribund fan base, which stayed away in record numbers the last three years, returned 12,132 strong on Saturday. Fans rushed the floor when Cartwright held the ball on the final inbound pass and mobbed the players. The whole performance was done in front of highly sought-after recruit Cezar Guerrero, who stood and cheered with each Iowa basket down the stretch and smiled when fans chanted "We want Ce-zar" followed with claps.

With a 65-63 lead and 12 seconds left, Iowa junior Matt Gatens took the ball from the inbound and sprinted up the floor, knowing the Boilermakers were waiting to foul anyone but him. Gatens, the Big Ten's leading free-throw shooter, drove to the basket and was fouled by Purdue's Kelsey Barlow with 6 seconds left. Gatens drained both free throws to push Iowa's lead to almost insurmountable four points.

"You've got to live in the moment and make plays," Gatens said.

The Hawkeyes rallied from three seven-point, first-half deficits to even the game at 36-36 at halftime. For McCaffery, Iowa's first-year head coach, the win provided a punctuation victory and erased the memory of teeth-gritting overtime home losses to Wisconsin and Michigan.

"We came close to a couple of teams, we really did," McCaffery said. "This team (Purdue) was probably playing better than all of them. From that standpoint, I think it was great."

The Hawkeyes stayed out of last place for the first time since 1994 - thanks to Indiana's blowout loss at Illinois - and earned their 11th win, one more than last year. Iowa earned the No. 10 seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament against either Penn State or Michigan State.

Following the script, Cole said it wasn't the season of dreams, but it had the movie-type ending.

"The only thing I could wish were more wins to follow," Cole said.

All he needs now is an encore.

Photos by Jim Slosiarek

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