Iowa hoops destroys UTEP and its zone

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Devyn Marble's words were bold, and they were backed up by his steel resolve Friday night.

The Iowa senior guard faced both a 1-3-1 zone to start the game and then a triangle-and-two geared to stop his offensive rhythm. If anything, it completely backfired for UTEP. Marble scored only seven points but he dished six assists without a turnover in an 89-53 dismantling of the Miners in a Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal.

No. 23 Iowa is now 7-0 for the first time since 2000-01. The Hawkeyes play either Kansas or Villanova for the tournament title at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night.

Marble scored 30 on Thursday, so he expected tight defense from UTEP. But what the Miners didn't expect was an offensive explosion from every other Iowa player. Iowa shot nearly 59 percent from the floor in the first half and drilled nine 3-pointers. The Hawkeyes outscored the Miners 15-2 in transition, 14-2 off turnovers and 35-24 in the paint.

"If you're going to run that defense, we're going to destroy you," Marble said. "They wanted to come out and think that was going to work, and it didn't."

Marble and Iowa carved up the 1-3-1 on the first three possessions with three quick baskets. Marble tossed inside to Melsahn Basabe for a dunk and followed with a drive to the basket. Marble ended that defense with an alley-oop pass to Aaron White that gave the Hawkeyes a 6-5 lead for good.

"I think we were in it two possessions, and it was obvious that their attack was good in it," UTEP Coach Tim Floyd said. "We just said to hell with that. Of course we said that with a lot of defenses we had out there today."

When UTEP attacked Marble, Iowa's other players stepped up.  White, a junior, scored a game-high 17 points, knocking down all seven free-throw attempts and giving a highlight-reel play with a one-handed reverse dunk.

Senior Zach McCabe finished with 14 points and threw down his first career dunk. McCabe had two-on-none fast-break opportunity with White and chose to slam it. McCabe sprinted back up the floor on defense with a huge smile on his face.

"Whitey knew he wasn't getting it,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

"That was my first one. It took a long time," McCabe said while almost blushing. "Not many people think I could get up. I finally got one."

Sophomore Jarrod Uthoff scored eight points and grabbed fifth rebounds. Freshman Peter Jok scored 14. Junior Gabe Olaseni grabbed eight rebounds. But the strongest individual performance belonged to Basabe, who scored eight first-half points -- 10 overall -- and knocked down three jumpers in the process.

Basabe also pulled down seven rebounds -- all in the first half.

"I'm proud of him," McCaffery said. "That's what he's capable of, and he went out and performed equally well at both ends. Obviously he scored and got on the glass. But defensively he was locked in.

"To see Melsahn be that aggressive offensively, that's who he is. He can score and he can rebound and he can do it against anybody. He's already proven that."

After leaving Thursday's overtime win against Xavier with lower-leg cramps, Marble exited for good with 13 minutes remaining. It was a good chance to get him healthy for either Villanova or Kansas.

"We got a lot of guys some rest," McCaffery said. "That was a grueling game (Thursday) night. Grueling, physical, pressing, man-to-man, coming from behind."

"I wasn't too bothered with the lack of minutes because I know (Saturday) will be a war," Marble said. "I'm looking forward to that."