Deep three nails Hawkeyes vs. Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C - Iowa's defense played the percentages and lost both the possession - and the game - on the same shot last night at Wake Forest.

With just seconds remaining and the score tied, Iowa tried to force Wake Forest's shooters into taking a bad shot. Demon Deacons freshman J.T. Terrell took the bait. Unfortunately for Iowa, Terrell drilled a 25-foot shot with 2.7 seconds left to sink the Hawkeyes, 76-73, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

“You're in a tied situation, you were down nine just a few minutes ago, we'll take overtime,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We don't want somebody driving the ball to the basket. They're in the bonus, a contested 3 from 5 feet beyond the line, I think we're going to take that.”

“We'd rather them shoot that than get in the lane and us reach in and put them on the line,” said sophomore Eric May, who led Iowa with 17 points. “They took a deep shot, a tough shot and hit it.”

The shot completed a massive comeback by Wake Forest, which trailed 39-21 late in the first half. Iowa (3-4) wilted on Wake Forest's final three first-half possessions and led by 12. Wake Forest started the half with a 25-6 run to take a 52-45 lead. The Demon Deacons then extended it to 10 points with 9:02 left before Iowa rallied to take the lead twice, the last coming at 73-72 with 2:41 left.

Iowa (3-4) had its chances to win in the final minutes. With the score tied 73-73, Iowa held possession for 1:24, missed four shots but pulled down offensive rebounds after each one. Junior Matt Gatens, who sat out for nearly 14 minutes in the second half, entered the game at 1:10 left and missed an open 3-pointer.

“I thought his 3 was down,” McCaffery said.

Gatens said his 3-point attempt was “just an inch or two off.”

“It felt great and I thought I worked real hard last week on shot preparation and I thought I got everything down right,” he said.

Wake Forest's Ari Stewart chucked up a missed 3-point shot with 47 seconds left, and Iowa drove back down the court. But Gatens' layup attempt was blocked by Ty Walker - his third block in the final 2:01 - and that set up Terrell's final 3-point attempt. Terrell finished with a game-high 32 points.

Iowa's substitution pattern altered between necessary and eccentric from nearly the beginning. Bryce Cartwright started for Cully Payne, who had surgery on a sports hernia Tuesday. Cartwright was hit with his second foul just 2:45 into the game and sat for the rest of the half. Gatens was pulled based on effectiveness, McCaffery said.

“It's one of those things where the lineup we had was the one that was cooking,” McCaffery said. “(Gatens) wasn't in there at the time so I went with them, and then I went back to him late.”

As for sitting on the bench for such a long spell, Gatens said, “It's something I'm not used to. It's more difficult than when you're in a rhythm.”

Iowa fell to 2-8 in ACC-Big Ten Challenge games.

IOWA (3-4)

Basabe 6-9 1-1 13, May 8-13 1-1 17, Cole 2-4 0-0 4, Gatens 2-9 0-0 6, Cartwright 5-10 2-2 13, Stoermer 0-2 0-0 0, Marble 5-10 1-3 11, McCabe 3-12 2-3 9, Brommer 0-2 0-0 0, Stubbs 0-0 0-0 0, Archie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-71 7-10 73.

WAKE FOREST (4-3)

Stewart 5-11 0-0 10, McKie 0-3 5-6 5, Walker 3-5 2-2 8, Terrell 9-16 7-8 32, Harris 3-5 5-6 12, Clark 1-2 1-2 3, Desrosiers 3-4 0-1 6, Godwin 0-0 0-0 0, Ingle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 20-25 76.

Halftime_Iowa 39-27. 3-Point Goals_Iowa 4-19 (Gatens 2-6, Cartwright 1-3, McCabe 1-6, Stoermer 0-2, Marble 0-2), Wake Forest 8-17 (Terrell 7-11, Harris 1-1, McKie 0-1, Stewart 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Iowa 38 (Basabe, McCabe 8), Wake Forest 28 (Walker 8). Assists_Iowa 15 (Cartwright 5), Wake Forest 14 (Clark, McKie 4). Total Fouls_Iowa 21, Wake Forest 18. A_9,086.