No. 5 IU outlasts Iowa 69-65 on road

IOWA CITY, Iowa- Fast breaks and sloppy shooting gave way to zone defense and free throws as No. 5 IU emerged from a grind-it-out dogfight against Iowa 69-65 to start the Big Ten season on a winning note Monday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We feel very good about our toughness inside of this game," IU Coach Tom Crean said. "This was truly one of those 15-round heavyweight fight games that the Big Ten is full of where you can’t necessarily land the knockout punch and you just want to make sure it doesn’t get landed on you."

Sophomore forward Cody Zeller and junior guard Victor Oladipo keyed the team during a physical second half, leading IU with 19 and 14 points respectively. Each also posted 10 rebounds, and Oladipo's 12 deflections gave him a triple-double by Crean's standards.

Senior forward Watford and Zeller led the attack early, with differing success. While Zeller came away from his first two trips to the paint with a missed shot and a charging call, Watford scored IU's first five points off a 3-point shot and a pair of free throws.

A 4:36 scoreless slump by the Hoosiers allowed the Hawkeyes to string together a 10-0 run and turn an 11-6 deficit into a 16-11 lead.

IU then countered with a quicker 10-0 run of its own, this one taking 3:52 and employing more of their customary fast break than the Hoosiers employed early on.

Even when Iowa broke the drought, IU was quick to respond seconds later with a layup in traffic by freshman guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell.

3-pointers by Watford and junior forward Will Sheehey helped push the lead 29-20. The nine-point margin was the largest lead for either team in the half.

Neither team shot well from the field in the first half, though largely for different reasons. IU was at times overly aggressive, especially early on, as Zeller and several guards drove into traffic in the lane and found themselves unable to get off clean shots. The Hoosiers shot 14-of-36 heading into the break.

Meanwhile, Iowa settled for a number of long jumpers and rushed shots, connecting on only 8-of-34 attempts.

Contrary to his early struggles in the first half, Zeller carried IU early in the second period, scoring 11 of  IU's 13 points in the first 4:10 to boost the lead to a 10-point margin.

“He just kept playing his game," Crean said. "I don’t think he got rattled. It’s easy to drop your head a little bit when you’re missing close shots and you’re not getting to the line the way you think you should be. That’s not Cody. His mental toughness is so strong it just doesn’t affect him."

Iowa responded much as IU had in first half, stringing together a run of transition baskets that cut the lead to two for IU. The Hawkeyes were 9-of-10 to start the second period.

IU pushed its lead back to as many as eight points, but rebounding and foul shots kept Iowa close. With 6:13 remaining, Iowa's Zach McCabe hit a jump shot to make it a one-point game at 57-56.

The game slowed down from that point on as offenses set up in half-court sets, Iowa employed a zone defense and the fouls that had mounted all game, especially for IU, resulted in frequent foul shots. Seven different Hoosiers accumulated multiple fouls, though none fouled out.

"I've seen a lot of different defenses, even back in high school," Zeller said. "I try not to worry about it and just be aggressive."

After his team-leading 20 points Friday against Jacksonville, senior guard Jordan Hulls was conspicuously off his game Monday, missing all 10 of his field goal attempts. Six came in the second half.

Despite his inaccuracy, both Hulls' coach and teammates said they expect him to swiftly bounce back to form and are not planning to make an adjustments to his role in offense.

"The great thing about Jordan Hulls, and I said it to him after the game, the 0-for-10 is meaningless," Crean said. "I thought he passed up five or six other opportunities that he needed to shoot the ball in… He missed some open looks, but at the same time, they were conscious of him… Jordan makes the game easier for everybody when he’s shooting the ball."

Iowa's leading scorer, Roy Devyn Marble, fared even worse. Guarded primarily by Oladipo, Marble missed all but one of his 14 attempts from the field. Even with 12-of-13 free throw shooting, Marble's often-rushed misses from the field jump-started a number of IU possessions.

“We’re well aware of what Marble’s doing, we’re well aware of his numbers, we’re well aware of what he’s done the past few days. No question, we know what he’s capable of," Crean said. "We had a game plan, and our guys did an excellent job of it."

Still, Marble made two of three free throws after being fouled by Oladipo beyond the arc to keep his team within three points, trailing 63-60.

McCabe had a 3-pointer rattle off the rim with 30 seconds to go that would have tied the game at 65. Instead, IU was able to ride out the clock on foul shots after Oladipo rebounded a Zeller miss and was subsequently fouled.

"Rebounding is one of my strengths," Oladipo said. "I saw Cody shooting, and I saw how it was coming off the rim, and I found myself in the right place at the right time. It's big plays like that that are going to help us win down the road."