Iowa storms to 14-point halftime lead

IOWA CITY - Iowa closed the first half on a 15-3 run to take a 44-30 halftime lead against Drake tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa sophomore forward Melsahn Basabe ignited the run with a dunk, which was then followed with a pair of Matt Gatens free throws to push Iowa's lead to 33-27. After Drake's Jordan Clarke hit one of two free throws, Iowa finished the half strong. Aaron White drilled a 3-pointer to push Iowa's lead to eight, then Gatens followed a missed 3-pointer with a tip-in to lift the Hawkeyes to a 10-point lead.

Zach McCabe scored on a drive to the basket and a jumper, as did Josh Oglesby. Those baskets wrapped around Drake's Jeremy Jeffers' two free throws for the 14-point halftime lead.

Gatens leads all scorers with 12 points. White scored nine and Basabe added eight. Gatens and White each grabbed five rebounds.

Jordan Clarke, Jeremy Jeffers and Kurt Alexander each scored seven points for Drake in the first half.

Iowa outscored Drake 26-12 in the paint and outrebounded Drake 21-14. Iowa shot 57.6 percent from the field while the Bulldogs shot just 36.7 percent.