Iowa rally comes up short against Syracuse

No. 25 Iowa's furious second-half rally came up short in a 66-63 loss to No. 24 Syracuse in the consolation game of the 2K Classic on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

Iowa center Adam Woodbury's putback brought the Hawkeyes within one point with 54 seconds left, then Syracuse's Kaleb Joseph missed a jumper and Iowa took possession down 63-62 with a chance to win. Iowa (2-2) called a timeout with 30 seconds left on the shot clock, 36.8 seconds remaining.

After scoring opportunities failed to materialize, Iowa forward Jarrod Uthoff got caught surrounded by Syracuse defenders with eight seconds on the shot clock, and Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery called timeout with 14.4 seconds left. Four seconds later, Woodbury passed in the paint toward forward Aaron White, but Syracuse's Chris McCullough stepped in front for the interception and secured the ball with 8.4 seconds left. McCullough was fouled and made both free throws.

'Woody tried to jam it in there,” McCaffery said afterward on his postgame radio show. 'The skip (pass) was open.”

With Iowa trailing by three, Iowa guard Mike Gesell was fouled at midcourt. He made one of two free throws, then Syracuse's Rakeem Christmas knocked down one more to provide the final margin.

Iowa (2-2) trailed by 14 with 8 minutes, 36 seconds left in the game. Then the Hawkeyes stormed back on a 15-2 run paced by Uthoff, who scored a team-high 20 points. Uthoff cut Iowa's deficit to 57-51 after a 3-pointer with 6:25 left. After a pair of free throws by McCullough, Uthoff scored five consecutive points. Uthoff knocked down a pair of free throws, then drilled a 3-pointer to move Iowa with three. Then Aaron White dunked one possession later to cut the deficit to one point.

Iowa had a chance to take the lead with 2:31 left, but Josh Oglesby mishandled a pass in corner and the ball slid out of bounds.

Uthoff's points were a career high. He added eight rebounds.

'It's funny, no matter what he does, I'm not surprised,” McCaffery said. 'I'd like for him to be even more aggressive. This is a guy who can get 30 a lot. Very few people have that ability.”

Iowa and Syracuse were tied 24-24 as late as 5:33 left in the first half. The Orange (3-1) finished the half strong and took a 34-29 at halftime.

The Hawkeyes committed 11 turnovers in the first half and 18 overall. Several times Iowa had chances at the rim in the first half, only to come away without points.

Syracuse blasted Iowa early in the second half, taking a 15-point lead and outscoring Iowa 18-8 in the first 8:22. It was similar to Thursday's loss to Texas, where the Longhorns outscored Iowa 19-7 early in the second half after the Hawkeyes built a 30-24 halftime lead.

'I was proud of how we fought,” McCaffery said. 'All in all, I feel good about that, but not the mistakes that we made.”

Uthoff, White and Woodbury combined for 47 points against Syracuse, a day after a they combined for 41 points.

Iowa's backcourt struggled in the two-day tournament. Thursday, Iowa's five guards were five of 29 from the floor and starters Anthony Clemmons and Mike Gesell connected on just two of 15 shots. Friday, the back court was five of 19 with Clemmons and Gesell combining to shoot three of 11.

McCullough paced Syracuse with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Rakeem Christmas added 18 points and seven rebounds.

Iowa has struggled taking care of the ball early this season. The Hawkeyes have 65 turnovers after four games and no fewer than 14 in any of them.

The Hawkeyes play Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Monday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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