Iowa's Jarryd Cole brushes aside illness in winning effort

IOWA CITY - Iowa senior center Jarryd Cole was so sick he couldn't make the pre-game meal.

He couldn't make the pre-game shootaround. He couldn't eat. He couldn't even make the postgame interview session.

But what Cole could do was make good for the Hawkeyes (7-5). Iowa's three-year team captain played 23 minutes, grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 10 points in Iowa's 77-58 win against Louisiana Tech last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Most people, especially Coach Fran McCaffery, were uncertain Cole could play. Instead Cole posted his fifth career double-double.

“We were unsure,” McCaffery said. “We put the IV in him to see if he could hold it down and if he could stop throwing up. We tried to get some food in him. He ate a little bit of soup, about two or three bites. That was it. His stomach is killing him right now.”

Cole was sick all night and took IV fluids at noon. McCaffery said Cole hadn't eaten anything other than soup in about 36 hours.

“It shows what type of team we are and how much (Cole) cares for the team,” Iowa sophomore Eric May said. “He cares about his teammates. He could have just easily said, ‘I don't want to play. I want to sit at home.' I could tell he was that sick. He didn't look the same. Physically, he didn't look the same. But he played phenomenal.”

With Iowa leading by three points midway through the first half, Cole stole a pass at midcourt and sprinted for a breakaway dunk to lift Iowa up 19-14. In a key second-half stretch, Cole scored six of Iowa's 12 points to extend a six-point lead to 13.

“It just shows the type of player he is,” May said. “He's just relentless. Watching him, he got some really big rebounds for us especially offensive rebounds, which we were struggling to get in the first half.”

The Hawkeyes rallied around Cole with effort on both ends of the court. Iowa forced 17 Louisiana Tech turnovers and converted them into 26 points. Junior Matt Gatens scored a season-high 22 points, tying a career high with five 3-pointers.

Louisiana Tech (9-5) had six more rebounds at the half, but Iowa out-rebounded Louisiana Tech 37-35 for the game. Part of the second-half improvement came from freshman Melsahn Basabe, who had no points or rebounds before halftime. He had seven points and three rebounds in the second half.

“Melsahn and Jarryd really got after it, and it wasn't just them,” McCaffery said.

Junior guard Bryce Cartwright scored 19 points, dished seven assists and grabbed six rebounds in 37 minutes. May also added 10 points.

Gatens' game-high scoring effort was his third-straight game with at least 15 points. His left thumb remains taped after suffering a torn tendon in October that required surgery but now Gatens plays without a pad covering it.

“It's feeling better with more confidence,” he said. “I'm catching it cleaner without as much padding on there. These days off will definitely help it.”