Live from Atlantis: Olaseni steps up, Floyd on Iowa

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Center Gabe Olaseni has made strides in his two-plus seasons at Iowa, but the junior produced his best and most important effort as a Hawkeye on Thursday night.

Olaseni, who stands 6-foot-10, scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his first career double-double in the No. 23 Hawkeyes' 77-74 overtime win against Xavier in the Battle 4 Atlantis. He was only 1-of-5 from the field, but that basket sent the game into overtime.

With leading scorer Devyn Marble sidelined with cramps and center Adam Woodbury fouled out, Olaseni played extended minutes late in the game. The Hawkeyes trailed 69-67 when Iowa sophomore guard Mike Gesell drove the lane. As Xavier's defenders converged on Gesell, he tossed to Olaseni for basket with 54.9 seconds left.

Olaseni then led off overtime with a pair of free throws to give the Hawkeyes their first lead of the game. Olaseni scored seven points in the final 2:50 of regulation and overtime.

“Gabe was spectacular in every area," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

Olaseni finished 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He played 29 minutes, blocked four shots and had an assist. He did not register a turnover and seven of his rebounds were offensive.

“Coaches emphasize confidence," Olaseni said. "We work on free throws every day, for 25-30 minutes before our practice. We work on free throws in practice when we're fatigued.

“The thing I try to do is just block out everything else and try to focus on what I have to do.”

Iowa (6-0) plays UTEP (4-2) in a Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal at 6 p.m. NBC Network televises the game (Mediacom [IC/CR] – 69; ImOn – 43; South Slope – 49; DirecTV -- 220; Dish -- 152 or 159)

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UTEP Coach Tim Floyd is familiar with Iowa based on his four seasons as head coach at Iowa State in the mid-1990s. He was 2-2 against the the Hawkeyes, with both wins coming in Iowa City.

"It's in Iowa City. Been over there a couple of times to play," Floyd joked minutes after his Miners beat Tennessee 78-70 late Thursday night. "They've got great players, they've got great fan support. Their coach is a seasoned coach who's done a great job wherever he's been."

Floyd caught just a few minutes of Iowa's overtime win and gave a basic assessment of the Hawkeyes in his postgame remarks.

"It looked to me that they pass the ball very, very well; they catch the ball very well," Floyd said. "They've got steady point guard play and Marble makes shots. (Adam) Woodbury's a big name coming out of high school.

"They run a little press. So our fellas might see a little press based on our inadequacies agains the old press tonight. We looked liek a snappy junior high group the last seven or eight minutes of that game against their press."

UTEP (4-2) shot 58 percent from the floor to upset the Volunteers (3-2). Tennessee outrebounded UTEP 46-28 and 28-8 on the offensive boards, but the Volunteers were just 3-of-21 from 3-point range and missed 16 free throws. UTEP guard McKenzie Moore scored 19 points to his team.

“Absolutely, I'm surprised,” Floyd said. “This really helps us. There's nothing like getting a win to help you.”

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Iowa's bench played a key role in its comeback win against Xavier. The Hawkeyes trailed by 15 points early in the second half and by 13 with less than 11 minutes to go.

Along with Olaseni, senior forward Zach McCabe was big, scoring 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting. He also grabbed three rebounds and a steal before fouling out. Sophomore point guard Anthony Clemmons scored only three points -- all of which from the free-throw line -- but he had seven assists and a steal with only two turnovers.

Among starters, Gesell missed several early shots and finished just 3-of-11 for seven points. But Gesell hit a jumper in the lane to give Iowa its first tie with 1:37 left and then dished to Olaseni to tie it up again.

They had to pick it up after Marble was sidelined with cramps after scoring a game-high 30 points.

"I'm so proud of them," Marble said. "I knew they were going to get it done. I just told them keep being aggressive, don't worry about it and shots will start to fall."

“In the huddle, there was no panic," McCaffery said. "We said, ‘OK ... there's 16 minutes to go, there's plenty of time. We just have to keep chipping away at it.'”

SCHEDULE

Today's games

• Tennessee vs. Xavier, noon (axs.tv)
• Wake Forest vs. USC, 2:30 p.m. (axs.tv)
• Iowa vs. UTEP, 6 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)
• Villanova vs. Kansas, 8:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)

Saturday's games

• Tennessee-Xavier loser vs. Wake Forest-USC loser, noon (axs.tv)
• Tennessee-Xavier winner vs. Wake Forest-USC winner, 2:30 p.m. (axs.tv)
• Iowa-UTEP loser vs. Villanova-Kansas loser, 6 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)
• Iowa-UTEP winner vs. Villanova-Kansas winner, 8:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)

UTEP (4-2)

• Ranking: None
• First-round opponent: Tennessee, 78-70
• Conference: Conference USA
• Coach: Tim Floyd
• Opponents: Loyola-New Orleans (W) 84-49; New Mexico State (L) 86-73; West Alabama (W) 67-46; Colorado State (W) 82-74; New Mexico State (L) 77-68; Tennessee (W)
• Starting Five (pre-tournament): F Cedrick Lang, 6-10 (11.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg); F/G Julian Washburn, 6-8 (10.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg); F Vince Hunter, 6-8 (10. 2 ppg, 7.4 rpg); C John Bohannon, 6-11 (9.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg); G C.J. Cooper, 6-0 (8.4 ppg, 2.4 apg)
• Others (pre-tournament): G McKenzie Moore, 6-6 (14.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.3 apg -- missed last game with concussion); C Matt Willms, 7-1 (7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg); G Justin Crogsgile, 5-11 (6.8 ppg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 rpg)
• Player to watch: Junior forward Cedrick Lang hails from Sioux Falls, S.D. and has nearly doubled his points from a year ago. He ranks second in scoring, second in rebounding, has three blocks and shoots 55.2 percent from the field.
• History: Has 17 NCAA tournament appearances, including the legendary 1966 NCAA title under Don Haskins
• History with Iowa: Series is tied 2-2 but Iowa won the last meeting 84-82 in the 1987 NCAA tournament's second-round game. First meeting was in 1965, when Haskins' Texas Western squad beat Iowa 86-68 en route to the national title (the movie "Glory Road" embellished on the game details). ... Coach Tim Floyd coached four seasons at Iowa State and split four games against Iowa. Oddly enough, he was 2-0 at Iowa City and 0-2 in Ames against the Hawkeyes.