Game story from Dec. 28, 1986 (victory over Portland)

Dec. 29, 1986

Hawks stop Portland, send record to 11-0

By Ron Maly

Register Staff Writer

Long Beach, Calif.—Unbeaten and third-ranked Iowa stormed back from an early 11-point deficit Sunday night to stop Portland, 84-65 in the opening round of the Anteater Classic.

“We’re not perfect in any way,” Hawkeye Coach Tom Davis said after his team stretched its record to 11-0 against a team that wasn’t supposed to be good enough to take 7-0 and 15-4 leads. “Portland played a fine game, and disrupted us. But I’m pleased with our team, even though we have some rough spots to correct.”

Iowa, boasting the longest winning streak in the nation, will play host team Cal-Irvine at 10 o’clock tonight CST in the championship game. The Anteaters moved their record to 5-3 with a 97-68 romp past Eastern Washington in Sunday night’s opener as Scott Brooks scored 29 points.

Gamble Lead Scoring

Kevin Gamble led the balanced Iowa scoring Sunday night with a career-high 16 points. Roy Marble added 14, Brad Lahaus 11 and Bill Jones 10.

“Give Portland a lot of credit for how they played against us,” said Gamble. “And, after watching Cal-Irvine, I think they’re going to be a tough team against us.”

Hawkeye guard B.J. Armstrong played just 21 minutes, made only one field goal and scored four points.

“He was a little under the weather,” said Davis. “He seemed to be coming down with the flu. But that’s where our depth paid off.”

Gerry Wright, who missed the first 10 games with a broken hand, saw his first action for Iowa. He entered the game with 2 minutes 36 seconds remaining, made one of three free throws and missed on one field goal—that a three-point try from the corner.

The tournament would be a complete financial flop had it not been for Iowa’s loyal fans. The attendance was 3,467, and it was estimated that all but a few hundred of the fans were from Iowa.

Guards Greg Attaway collected 23 and 20 points respectively for Portland, which has a 5-5 record and hasn’t won on the road or on a neutral court all season. Attaway went 9-for-10 from the field and scored all but two of his points in the first half.

But Attaway’s shooting went that away in the final 20 minutes. He made just one of six shots in the last half. Asked why his team started so well, Portland Coach Jack Avina said with a good laugh, “Good coaching. Actually, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“In a loss to Idaho, we had a lousy first half. In a loss to Boise State, we played lousy the whole game.” “Talent finally turned it around tonight. Anyone could see that Iowa had much more talent than us.”

“Oregon State and Washington both beat us earlier, but they’re different teams than Iowa.

“Iowa was probably similar to Oregon State (whose coach, Ralph Miller, was formerly at Iowa) with its outside shooting.”

Portland came into the game shooting just 41 percent, but his at a 63 percent clip in the opening half. With 1 minute 39 seconds gone in the game, the Pilots had a 7-0 lead. With 3:46 gone, they were in front, 15-4.

Ed Horton’s basket with 7:07 remaining gave the Hawkeyes their first lead, 35-33, and they led at half time, 48-44. At 9:45 in the last half, Iowa was in control, 67-54. “I called timeouts to shut the Iowa fans up,” said Avina.

“I’ve watched tapes of their home games, and I knew how loud their fans are.” Davis said Iowa played better defense in the last half against Attaway.

But Anthony, a 170-pound freshman, was more consistent—scoring 11 points in the first half, nine in the second. Iowa controlled the rebounding, 40-28, led by Lohaus’ nine and Kent Hill’s eight. Hill added nine points while playing 17 minutes.

IOWA (84) — Marble 6-8 2-6 14, Lohaus 4-7 3-5 11, Horton 2-3 2-2 6, Armstrong 1-6 2-2 4, Gamble 4-9 5-6 16, Wright 0-1 1-3 1, Casey 0-0 0-0 0, Reaves 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 3-5 4-4 10, Moe 2-8 2-2 6, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0, Jewell 1-2 0-0 2, Hill 4-4 1-4 9, Lorenzen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 22-34 84.

PORTLAND (65) — Simmons 2-3 0-1 4, Phillips 1-4 1-2 4, Webb 4-6 0-1 8, Attaway 10-16 0-0 23, Anthony 7-17 6-9 20, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, McDowell 0-0 2-2 2, Foreman 1-3 0-0 2, Hester 1-1 0-0 2, Antee 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-52 9-15 65.

Halftime—Iowa 48, Portland 44. Fouled Out—Simmons. Rebounds—Iowa 40 (Lohaus 9), Portland 28 (Simmons 7). Assists—Iowa 19 (Moe 6), Portland 19 (Anthony 12). Total Fouls—Iowa 18, Portland 24. Technicals—None. Attendance—3,467.