Iowa
Bucs Fall Short To Iowa In Opener, 68-48
11/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
IOWA CITY, IA - The Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0, 0-0) used a 20-4 run early in the first half to race to an 11-point lead en route to a, 68-48, victory over Charleston Southern (0-1, 0-0) on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa was led in scoring by freshman Matt Gatens, who posted all 15 of his points in the first half.
"I've heard so much about this place and this facility in the
past," said Charleston Southern head coach Barclay Radebaugh. "It
certainly didn't disappoint, but I am looking forward to our team
playing a little better though."
The Buccaneers closed the first half on a 9-2 run, fueled by
sophomore guard Jamarco Warren to close to 29-25 and just a
four-point deficit. Warren ultimately led all scorers in the game,
finishing with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, which included a
perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range.
Although the Bucs were able to slow Gatens after halftime, the
Hawkeyes were able to adjust nicely to open the second half and
went on a 14-4 run to widen the gap to 14 points. "We kind of had
them on the ropes a little bit at the end of the first half had it
continued," said Radebaugh. "But they made some adjustments and we
made some adjustments and they just executed their adjustments
better than we did."
The 14-point deficit was the closest the Bucs would get after the
early second half spurt, as Iowa built the lead to as many as 23
points, before ultimately winning by 20. Gatens, a freshman from
Iowa City, paced the Hawks in his first game at Carver-Hawkeye
Arena. Iowa also got 10 points each from Anthony Tucker and Jake
Kelly.
"We got a little discouraged and when you're not sharing the
basketball and getting good shots, it gets a little discouraging on
the defensive end," Radebaugh added.
Pre-season All-Big South selection Omar Carter led the Bucs in
shots, but finished second in scoring, settling for 13 points on
6-of-15 shooting. Transfer Billy Blackmon also tallied six points
for the Buccaneers as did freshman Kelvin Martin in his first start
for CSU. The Buccaneers played without point guard Tovi Bailey,
who missed the game due to a death in the family.
With the loss the Bucs fall to 0-4 all-time against the Big Ten
conference, with previous losses to Wisconsin, Minnesota and
Michigan. This was their first matchup with Iowa.
The Buccaneers will play their first home game of the season at
Buccaneer Field House against Furman on Monday night at 7:30
pm.
