Iowa shakes off tough start, blows past Nebraska

IOWA CITY — It was one of those games Iowa had to win, and it took a while for the Hawkeyes to figure out how.

After a start flatter than a western Nebraska highway, No. 23 Iowa worked out its early kinks en route to a 77-66 win against the Cornhuskers Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes (12-3, 3-0) trailed 10-0 and missed their first seven shots nearly five minutes into the game. Then like its rally last Saturday against Purdue, Iowa used its defense to generate offense.

Iowa shifted into its 1-2-2 zone press after forward Jarrod Uthoff hit a pair of free throws. Uthoff got a steal and then drilled a 3-pointer to bring the team within 12-7. He then drove for a dunk. The Hawkeyes scored on eight straight possessions to erase their opening deficit and led 19-17 after a Peter Jok 3-pointer.

'I think it (generated offense) but it also generated some energy,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'We played with more energy, we started running more, the crowd got more involved, the crowd got energized. Then our break was better, our ball movement was better. We only created nine turnovers but a couple of them were right there and we were close to a couple more and it got their offense a little bit sideways.'

Uthoff scored nine of Iowa's first 13 points.

'I'm not sure why we came out flat, but we turned it around about the 16-minute mark of the first half and kind of ramped it up on defense and it turned into easy points,' Uthoff said.

Nebraska (8-8, 0-3) scored just twice more in the first half, its last basket a 3-pointer with 7:32 left. Iowa finished the half on a 12-0 run to keep the Cornhuskers at an arm's length.

Uthoff continued his torrid play, putting up 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Uthoff leads the Big Ten in scoring at 18.6 points a game. He also has 50 blocked shots, second most in the country. It was the seventh game this season Uthoff has scored at least 20 points.

Iowa point guard Mike Gesell added 22 points, dished 10 assists and hit 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. Forward Dominique Uhl provided an early spark with a turnaround jumper and then tied the game at 16-16. He chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Nebraska guard Tai Webster came off the bench to lead the Cornhuskers with 22 points. Forward Shavon Shields added 13.

Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons, who suffered a hip pointer against Purdue last Saturday, started and played 17 minutes but appeared hampered by the injury and did not score.

Iowa now has its first 3-0 Big Ten start since 2002-03. The last time the Hawkeyes opened league play 4-0 was in 1998-99. The Hawkeyes have won their last nine Big Ten games, something they haven't done since the 1969-70 season. Nebraska has lost 11 consecutive Big Ten games.

The Hawkeyes are off until Jan. 14, when they travel to Michigan State. Iowa hasn't won in East Lansing since 1993.

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