Iowa stops Drake

DES MOINES — At a critical juncture against an instate rival, Iowa saw a big lead vanish on three consecutive possessions.

That scenario sounds eerily familiar, but the outcome was completely different. Instead of folding Saturday against Drake — like the Hawkeyes did in a one-point loss at Iowa State last week — Iowa held tough defensively and scored two big baskets. The Hawkeyes held on to beat the Bulldogs 70-64 at Wells Fargo Arena as part of the Big Four Classic.

Iowa (8-3) led 66-56 after Dominque Uhl drilled a 3-pointer with 3:58 left in the game. Then Drake (4-7) battled with a pair of 3-pointers and a drive to the basket to cut the Hawkeyes' lead to 66-64 with 1:37 left.

The Hawkeyes then got tough offensively. Forward Jarrod Uthoff, who battled foul trouble for most of the game, scored inside with 1:05 left to push the Hawkeyes ahead by four. Uthoff rebounded a Reed Timmer miss at the other end, then Iowa point guard Mike Gesell drove and scored on a dunk to put Iowa ahead 70-64 with 29 seconds left.

Defense was critical for Iowa in the final two minutes. On Drake's final three possessions, the Hawkeyes were able to get the necessary stops.

'Mike spoke up,' Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons said. 'He told us, 'Let's get three stops.' I put it on, 'If we're going to win this game, let's get three stops.''

Gesell's dunk was impressive, if only because he took advantage of Drake's defense. Bulldogs forward Kale Abrahamson, who stands 6-foot-8, was defending the 6-2 Gesell on the perimeter. Gesell drove hard to his right around Abrahamson and before Drake's defense could converge at the rim, Gesell threw it down.

'As a guard you always like it when you've got a bigger guy on you,' Gesell said. 'It's easier to get by a guy like that than another guard. That's how the game goes. You look for mismatches down the stretch.'

Gesell finished 7 of 8 from the field for a team-best 17 points. He added four assists, a block and three rebounds without any turnovers in 34 minutes.

'He's just going to keep coming,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. '(Gesell) feels terrible about the game the other night; a lot of people do. He's just going to come back and go to work. Keep attacking you and making plays. Clearly a difference in the game. We get out-rebounded.'

Iowa did make up for a rebounding disadvantage with an impressive rejection display. The Hawkeyes blocked a school-record 14 shots, including six by red-shirt freshman Nicholas Baer. Uthoff, who was limited to 21 minutes because of foul trouble, still blocked five shots.

'It was unexpected, too,' Clemmons said. 'I didn't see that coming. Baer gave a lot of energy. Pretty much with Jarrod, he's going to have one or two a game. Fourteen, that was a lot.'

'We were getting out on the shooters,' Uthoff said. 'We had great timing. We were on the top of it. That's what a lot of what blocks are, timing.'

Baer played a career-high 30 minutes, including 19 in the second half. He scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished two assists and had a steal. His six blocks set an arena record for college basketball.

'He's a very good shooter,' Gesell said. 'He started hitting shots, and we were going to him. Defensively, he does a tremendous job of moving his feet. The reason he got six blocks was he was in the right position, and that's what you need. He does a tremendous job of just playing the right way and doing what you need him to do.'

Timmer led all scorers with 25 points for the Bulldogs.

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