Marble the man as Hawkeyes rally past Gophers

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Hawkeye sophomore Melsahn Basabe takes it up strong for a dunk during Iowa's contest against Minnesota on Wednesday evening, February 1, 2012. Benjamin Roberts / Iowa City Press-Citizen

IOWA CITY, Ia. – Playmakers make plays. Devyn Marble is a playmaker.

And Wednesday, the sophomore guard made three huge plays to rally Iowa to a 63-59 victory over Minnesota before an announced crowd of 11,232 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“That’s what Devyn Marble is, he’s a playmaker,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said after his team came back from a late 10-point deficit to improve to 4-6 in the Big Ten and 12-11 overall.

Box score: Iowa 63, Minnesota 59

Minnesota, now 4-6 in the Big Ten and 16-7 overall, was swept by Iowa for the first time since 2006-07. Iowa also outrebounded the taller Gophers 39-35, including 16 on the offensive glass. The Hawkeyes had just one second-half turnover.

“Iowa really hung in there and got the win, one that I thought we had in hand,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said. “They made some clutch plays down the stretch, and we didn’t.”

Iowa trailed 59-54 with less than 3 minutes to play. And then Marble and company closed out the game on a 9-0 run. It started when point guard Bryce Cartwright found Marble in transition, and Marble buried his fourth 3-pointer of the Big Ten season.

“When I can get my feet set and under me, it’s money,” said Marble, who finished with 12 points. “It’s not one of my favorite shots. But it was a good time to take it. A momentum changer. So I just stepped up and knocked it down.”

Minnesota’s Andre Hollins missed a 3, and Marble stepped up again. He got around Hollins at the top of the key and dunked over 6-foot-11 Ralph Sampson to tie the score at 59-59 with 1:40 remaining.

“I don’t go on the top floor too often, but I had a business meeting tonight,” Marble said. “And I took care of business.”

Sampson tried to counter when he got the ball deep on the right side of the block. Iowa’s scouting report said this: If Sampson puts the ball on the floor, he’s going to shoot.

Sampson went to dribble, and Cartwright knocked it free. Iowa’s Aaron White got his hands on it and tipped it back to Cartwright, who raced down the floor and was fouled on a drive to the basket.

Cartwright had missed a pair of free throws with 2:59 remaining and his team down five points. This time he made two at the 1:05 mark to put Iowa in front 61-59.

“The end of the game, that’s my time,” Cartwright said. “You have to have a short memory.”

Another missed Minnesota shot, and Iowa got possession again. With a 6-second differential between the game clock and shot clock, Smith decided to play it out, try to get a stop and then a possession to tie or win the game.

Marble drove and dished the ball to Gatens for a bank shot with 8<TH>seconds to go that sealed the comeback.

“I had a quick debate about whether to get back on defense or stay,” said Gatens, who led Iowa with 18 points. “I saw my guy leave and Devyn made a great look to me to dish it off.”

Iowa’s defense, embarrassed in allowing 103 points at Indiana Sunday, played more inspired this time around, holding Minnesota to three points in the first 11 minutes.

“The way we defended the first 10 minutes is the best we’ve defended since I’ve been here,” McCaffery said.

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Tags: Devyn Marble, Fran McCaffery, gatens, Matt Gatens

Category: Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball