Gatens scores 22 to lead Iowa to 77-58 victory

Matt Gatens scored 22 points and Bryce Cartwright added 19 to lead Iowa past Louisiana Tech 77-58 on Tuesday night.

Iowa (7-5) had four scorers in double figures. Eric May and Jarryd Cole added 10 points apiece. Cole also grabbed 12 rebounds for the fifth double-double of his career.

The win was Iowa's fourth in its last five games.

Olu Ashaolu led Louisiana Tech (9-5) with 18 points. Brandon Gibson had 13 and DeAndre Brown 10.

Ashaolu had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first half for his eighth double-double of the season and 18th of his career.

But Ashaolu picked up his third foul with 18:02 to play and sat out the next six minutes while Iowa built a 53-47 lead. By that time, momentum had swung the Hawkeyes' direction.

Gatens' fifth 3-pointer pushed Iowa's lead to 59-49 during an 11-2 run that put the game out of reach for the Hawkeyes. Cartwright's jumper with 5:05 capped the run and pushed Iowa's lead to 64-51. Cartwright had 13 points in the second half.

The five 3-pointers by Gatens were a season best for an Iowa player and matched his career best, set against Michigan last season. It also was a season high for points for Gatens, who had 19 Saturday in the Hawkeyes' 59-52 win at Drake.

Iowa made all 10 of its free throws in the final four minutes.

Iowa led 35-34 at halftime.

Iowa used a 10-0 run to build an eight-point lead in the first half, but Louisiana Tech answered with a 13-3 run of its own.

Devyn Marble's rebound putback of Melsahn Basabe's miss tied the game at 14 with 10:40 left in the first half and ignited a 10-0 Iowa run. Gatens drilled a 3-pointer and Cole stole a pass and drove for an uncontested dunk that pushed Iowa's lead to 19-14 with 9:54 left. Cartwright's layup and a free throw from Marble gave Iowa its largest lead of the half at 22-14 with 8:14 left.

Three straight baskets by Ashaolu keyed a 13-3 run by Tech that gave the lead back to the Bulldogs, 27-25, with 4:49 left in the half.

Louisiana Tech has lost its last 11 games to a BCS conference team, dating back to 2005.

Iowa is idle until Dec. 29 when it hosts Illinois in its Big Ten opener. Louisiana Tech plays next Dec. 29 at Boise State in its Western Athletic Conference opener.

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