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Hawkeye men slide further down Big Ten ladder with 68-57 loss at Northwestern
Iowa drops to 16th-place at 6-12 after falling to Wildcats in Evanston, and needs to win one of its final two games to have a chance to advance to the Big Ten tourney
Feb. 28, 2025 10:09 pm, Updated: Mar. 1, 2025 2:05 pm
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(This story was written in Cedar Rapids.)
For the second time in four days, the Iowa men’s basketball team set a season-low for points scored.
For the second time in four days, the Hawkeyes never led in their game.
For the 12th time in 18 Big Ten games, Iowa lost.
On the heels of their 81-61 loss at Illinois Tuesday, the Hawkeyes were defeated 68-57 at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Iowa dropped Iowa into 16th-place in the Big Ten standings at 6-12 (15-14 overall).
Only the top 15 teams advance to the conference tournament in Indianapolis March 12-16. The Hawkeyes have games remaining at home against No. 8 Michigan State next Thursday and at Nebraska March 9, and will need to win to have the chance to go to Indy.
Northwestern climbed into a tie for 12th-place at 7-11 (16-13 overall) with the win, it’s third in a row.
A Drew Thelwell 3-pointer drew Iowa within 37-36 with 16:17 left, but Northwestern hit back-to-back threes and never again led by less than five points.
Wildcat freshman guard K.J. Windham came off the bench to match his career-high with 20 points. He entered the game averaging 4.2 points. Teammate Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, had 12 second-half points and 16 total.
Thelwell led Iowa with 14 after missing the Illinois game with an ankle issue.
“This one’s tough,” Thelwell said on the Hawkeye Radio Network’s postgame show.
Iowa shot 36.2 percent from the field. Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix, Iowa’s top two scorers with Owen Freeman sidelined for the rest of the season after finger surgery, shot a combined 6-of-25.
“We didn’t shoot it well, obviously,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We had good shooters shooting good shots, but we couldn’t capitalize.”
Northwestern got eight more points off free throws, shooting 23 to Iowa’s 10.
“That should never happen,” said Thelwell.
The Hawkeyes’ 57 points were their fewest since their 64-52 loss at Wisconsin two years ago.
Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com
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