Basabe, Cole post big results inside for Iowa

IOWA CITY - Melsahn Basabe has produced up-and-down performances in his nine games at Iowa, but Tuesday's effort against Northern Iowa so far resides at the peak.

Basabe, a freshman, scored a game-high 14 points in Iowa's 51-39 win. He also grabbed seven rebounds and didn't have a turnover. He's come a long way since combining for seven points in the Hawkeyes' final two games at the Paradise Jam Classic two weeks ago.

“If you saw him down in the Virgin Islands, he was confused,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “He started to get down on himself a little bit. We just stayed positive with him, and he stayed positive with himself at that point. He's been terrific ever since,”

Early in the second half against UNI (4-3), Basabe scored five consecutive points to lift Iowa (5-4) from a one-point lead to 31-25. After the Panthers cut Iowa's lead to seven points with 1:49 left, Basabe put the Hawkeyes up by nine points with a layup.

Between Basabe and senior Jarryd Cole, the Hawkeyes controlled the paint, outscoring UNI 28-6. Iowa wanted to work the ball inside on the Panthers, and Basabe was active.

“The game plan was that they were a very physical team and if you came out slow, they were going to push you around,” Basabe said. “I felt like I was kind of playing soft this season. I've been watching game tapes trying to see where my mistakes were with the coaches. I just looked at myself and said, ‘That wasn't me.'

“I was kind of being timid. To that I didn't tell myself I wanted to score points, block 30 shots. I came out and said I need to play aggressive and be active and not get pushed around.”

Cole was equal to the challenge, grabbing 15 rebounds, the most since Greg Brunner's 23 in 2006. Cole also scored 10 points and seemed to play more aggressively after a lingering foot problem robbed him of his effectiveness.

“What he did (Tuesday) I thought was he made really good decisions,” McCaffery said. “It wasn't like he only got a bunch of rebounds. He knew when to kick it back out and when to go back up with it. Against (UNI), that's important.”

Basabe said he stepped up his game when he saw Cole's effort.

“He just seemed like an animal,” Basabe said. “I can't even explain it. I was just amazed. Every rebound that was up was his. That was his attitude.

“I definitely fed off him. If he's doing his job, I've got to do mine.”