Iowa squanders big lead, rallies late but falls short

IOWA CITY - Iowa squandered a 15-point first half lead, rallied in the final seconds to make it close but fell  short 70-66 to Northwestern in the Big Ten regular-season finale for both schools Saturday afternoon.

Northwestern took a 51-40 lead early in the second half before Iowa started chipping away. Twice in the final two minutes Iowa cut its deficit to two points before falling short.

Iowa (16-15, 8-10 Big Ten) had its best chance with 10.9 seconds left. The Hawkeyes trailed 68-66, and Northwestern's John Shurna missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Aaron White rebounded the miss and Iowa drove the ball up the court.

Iowa freshman Josh Oglesby was open at the wing, but missed a 3-pointer. After a flurry, White touched the ball as it went out of bounds. Alex Marcotullio clinched the game for Northwestern with a pair of free throws.

First-half recap:

Northwestern weathered an early Iowa offensive barrage to take a 42-35 halftime lead Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa led 28-13 with 9:27 left in the first half, but the Wildcats methodically cut into Iowa's lead. Northwestern scored on 12 of its next 17 possessions. Four of those possessions gained three points for Northwestern with the Wildcats twice sinking three free throws after being fouled on 3-point attempts. The result was a 29-7 run.

Drew Crawford led Northwestern with 12 points and five rebounds. Aaron White had 12 points for Iowa, while Zach McCabe had six points and six rebounds.

Iowa has shot 52.9 percent from the floor but has 13 turnovers. Northwestern, which has buried Iowa for a combined 39 3-pointers in the teams' last three meetings, is shooting just 3-of-11 from 3-point range.

The game is pivotal for both programs. Northwestern (17-12) needs a win to remain in contention for its program-first NCAA tournament berth. Iowa (16-14) needs a win to even its Big Ten record at 9-9.

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