Game story from Dec. 20, 1986 (victory over Iowa State)
Dec. 20, 1986
Iowa depth overwhelms Iowa State
By Rick Brown
Register Staff Writer
Iowa City, Ia.-Johnny Orr expected more than he got from his Iowa State basketball team Saturday night. “I thought we had a good chance to beat them,” the Cyclone coach said after watching his team drop an 89-64 decision to Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “I thought we would make a better showing than we did. I don’t mind losing, but I don’t like to see us get outhustled.” Traditionally, the Iowa State coach is a Hawkeye buster. Heading into Saturday night, Orr had a career record of 19-8 against Iowa while coach at both Michigan and Iowa State, and had a running string of three straight over the Hawkeyes. Some of those 19 victories carried the touch of Houdini. Who can forget 1968? Orr was the assistant to Dave Strack at Michigan when the Wolverines came to town and stunned Iowa, 71-70. The loss dropped Iowa into a tie with Ohio State for the Big Ten Conference title. Iowa later lost a playoff game with the Buckeyes to determine the NCAA tournament entry.
Game in 1979
How about 1979? On the night former coach Lute Olson announced he was not leaving Iowa for the Southern California job, Orr’s Wolverines jumped to a 16-2 lead and won, 61-53. That loss cost the Hawkeyes the outright Big Ten title. In 1985, Orr’s underdog Iowa State team scored the first 12 points of the game and beat Iowa, 54-50, for the first Cyclone victory here in 63 years. With Iowa coming into Saturday night’s game undefeated and ranked third nationally, the stage was set for another chapter in Orr’s book. But it wasn’t to be. Iowa controlled the tempo and used superior depth in improving to 9-0. The Hawkeyes scored more points in the first half than they had the entire game when the teams last met in Carver-Hawkeye Area in 1985. Ed Horton remembered last year’s game. In fact, he and teammate Kevin Gamble started watching a tape of it Friday night. “I got so frustrated, I turned it off,” said Horton, who led the Hawkeyes with 17 points and 11 rebounds. “We decided, right then, to go out and give a great effort.”
Horton Instrumental
Horton was instrumental in the Hawkeyes’ powerful success inside. Thirty-two of their 52 first-half points came from inside the lane. Nine of Iowa’s first 12 second-half baskets came from the same place. “We wanted to push it right at them, and we figured the first 5 minutes were very important,” added Gamble, who contributed 15 points. Jeff Moe was again a valuable contributor off the bench with 13 points and Iowa’s depth was a key factor. The Hawkeyes got 29 points off the bench, Iowa State six. That was about average for the year—Iowa has been getting 33 from the reserves, the Cyclones just eight. Iowa Coach Tom Davis ran his bench at Iowa State early and never stopped. Davis made 19 first-half substitutions, Orr just five. “Our depth was a key,” Moe said. “All five of their starters average more than 32 minutes a game. We’ve used nine and 10 guys all year to wear people down. And no one worries about how much playing time they’re getting. We just play hard.”
“Our Year”
Iowa’s depth was never more evident than in the first half. Horton and Moe scored nine points in the first 20 minutes, Roy Marble and B.J> Armstrong eight and Brad Lohaus and Gamble seven. The victory ended Iowa State’s three-year reign as the mythical state champion, something Moe has in mind when the game started. “This was our year,” said Moe, a junior from Indianapolis. “There was no way we were going to lose this one. WE never won state when I was in high school, so this was my state championship.” One of the most frustrated players was Iowa State star Jeff Grayer, who had 17 points and had to work hard for every one of them. “They were looking for me,” said Grayer, scoring in double figures for the 42nd time in 44 games. “They were fronting me inside with their zone, and we were not getting good rotation on the ball.”
Stopping Grayer
“We knew if Grayer got the ball inside, he’d hurt us,” said Horton. “We also tried to keep him from flashing out to get the ball.” The game was similar to the Cyclones’ 86-65 loss at Indiana last year. Iowa State bounced back from that game to win 22 games and make the final 16 of the NCAA tournament. “I hope we can do that again,” Orr said. “This season’s far from over. We have a long way to go.”
IOWA STATE (64) — Grayer 7-14 2-3 17, Schafer 9-14 2-3 19, Hill 2-10 0-0 4, Thompkins 2-7 0-0 4, Robinson 6-13 0-0 14, Doerrfeld 0-0 0-0 0, Spinks 2-4 0-0 4, Woods 1-4 0-0 2, Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Rhodes 0-1 0-4 0, Poole 0-0 0-1 0, Margenthaler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 3-10 64.
IOWA (89) — Marble 4-9 3-6 11, Lohaus 3-6 0-0 7, Horton 8-13 1-1 17, Gamble 6-10 0-1 16, Armstrong 5-10 0-1 10, Moe 3-10 6-8 13, Lorenzen 1-1 0-0 2, Hill 4-7 2-2 10, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0, Reaves 0-0 0-2 0, Casey 0-0 2-2 2, Jewell 0-0 2-2 2, Jepsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-67 16-25 89.
Halftime—Iowa 52, Iowa State 34. Fouled Out—Robinson. Rebounds—Iowa State 38 (Hill 11), Iowa 44 (Horton 11). Assists—Iowa State 16 (Thompkins 5), Iowa 21 (Armstrong 7). Total Fouls—Iowa State 24, Iowa 16. Technicals—None. Attendance—15,500.
