Iowa Men Bounce Back in Win Over Alabama
By: Mike Rabon
Matt Gatens (Photo via Hawkeyesports.com)
After a difficult 86-73 loss to Xavier Friday night, the Iowa Hawkeye men rebounded with a 55-47 victory over the Crimson Tide in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Iowa trailed Alabama 15-5 minutes into the game but a pair of free throws by Jordan Stoermer and contributions from Bryce Cartwright and Zach McCabe allowed the Hawks to gain the lead 29-27 at halftime. Freshman Zach McCabe led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 13 points and Eric May added 12 points.
34.5% shooting will not win many more games this season but a stifling Hawkeye defense ensured the victory Saturday night. Alabama shot 33.9% from the field and was led in scoring by JaMychal Green who had 17 points.
The glaring statistic and likely reason for the Hawkeye victory was bench play. Iowa’s bench outscored Alabama’s bench 31-5. Fran McCaffery said “Our offense was good enough, but it needs to get better.” Iowa was fortunate to win Saturday evening but for a young and rebuilding team a win breeds much needed confidence. The Hawks were victorious one time away from Carver-Hawkeye arena last year.
Junior Matt Gatens returned from injury this weekend and scored 4 points in 34 minutes of playing time against Alabama. Iowa overcame an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5:16, which must improve before the Big10 season.
Iowa will play Long Beach State on Monday afternoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands and look to leave town with 2-1 record at the tournament and a 3-2 overall record before playing SIU-Edwardsville in Iowa City on Friday, November 26th.
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