Iowa rebounds, tops Pepperdine

IOWA CITY - Iowa's offense was stuck in neutral for most of last night's game against Pepperdine. For a change, the Hawkeyes needed its defense to pop the scoring clutch in gear.

The Hawkeyes (3-2) forced 19 Pepperdine turnovers and converted them into 22 points in a 72-61 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. That defense was necessary in the second half when the offense floundered after a strong start. It was also important for confidence after Iowa was stung twice in New York as part of the 2K Classic.

'When we were in New York and our offense wasn't clicking, we gave up easy baskets, we gave up easy rebounds, and didn't shut them down in the defensive end,” Iowa senior Aaron White said. 'I think (last night) we stepped forward in that area. It was a rough offensive game down the line for all of us. When games are like that you've got to step it up on D and get the necessary stops and at times turn your defense into offense.”

That was the case for both White, who led Iowa's scorers with 17 points, and guard Anthony Clemmons in key junctures. White scored Iowa's final four points from the free-throw line and provided a key steal that led to his final point.

'We had five minutes there where we couldn't get a shot, we weren't making our shots, we weren't scoring so that's why we had to get stops,” Iowa guard Josh Oglesby said. 'I thought that was important for us, especially coming out of the second half and setting the tone.”

While Iowa led from start-to finish, Pepperdine (3-1) lurked for most of the game. Pepperdine guard Shawn Olden's 3-pointer cut Iowa's lead to 39-36 with 15:41 left in the game. The Hawkeyes then soared on an 11-0 run, beginning with a layup by Jarrod Uthoff. Clemmons drilled a 3-pointer, then followed with a steal and a layup. Clemmons grabbed a rebound on Pepperdine's next possession, and Adam Woodbury scored a fast-break layup to put the Hawkeyes up 48-36. Uthoff added a jumper three possessions later to complete the run.

The Waves (3-1) cut their deficit to five points with 6:57 left, but Iowa scored on its next five possessions. Guard Mike Gesell hit a jumper, a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws on an 11-3 run.

'I thought (Gesell) had a very aggressive mind-set. I thought that the 3s that he took were 3s that he's going to make,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'I mean, he shot it well, he had his pull up jumper going, he was aggressive to the rim.”

That run was punctuated by a one-handed slam by Uthoff on an alley-oop pass from Oglesby. Uthoff called it 'a perfect pass.” The two were AAU teammates with the Iowa Barnstormers and played against each other in high school. Uthoff was Mr. Basketball at Cedar Rapids Jefferson while Oglesby competed at Cedar Rapids Washington.

'I played with him in AAU so I figured he'd go get it,” Oglesby said. 'I threw it kind of high, but he's long.”

Gesell and Uthoff both scored 15 points for Iowa. White also pulled down nine rebounds and grabbed four steals. Uthoff had eight rebounds.

The Hawkeyes (3-2) play host to Northern Illinois on Wednesday.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com