Game story from Dec. 5, 1986 (victory over Delaware)
Dec. 5, 1986
No. 5 Iowa shreds Delaware, 95-47 in Classic opener
By RICK BROWN
Register Staff Writer
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Embarrassed in the first round of its own Amana-Hawkeye Classic last season, Iowa’s basketball team made amends in a monstrous way Friday night.
The fifth-ranked Hawkeyes destroyed Delaware, 95-47, in a first-round contest at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It was the widest margin of victory in the five-year history of the tournament. The previous record was Iowa’s 32-point destruction of Hawaii, 99-67, in the championship of the inaugural tournament in 1982.
“If we continue to work hard and play unselfish, good things are going to happen to this team,” said Tom Davis, who is undefeated in five games as Iowa’ coach.
The victory enabled the Hawkeyes to move into their second tournament championship game in a week. Last Sunday, Iowa defeated Northeastern in the finals of the Great Alaska Shootout, 103-80.
Iowa meets Loyola Marymount (3-0) in to night’s 8:35 final. The Lions defeated Washington State, 96-89, in Friday’s second game. Delaware will play Washington State in tonight’s 6:35 third-place game.
Forward Brad Lohaus, who played the best stretch of basketball in his career in the first half, led the Hawkeyes with 16 points. He also blocked two shots, had a team-high three steals and five rebounds.
Kevin Gamble added a career-high 15 points and Jeff Moe chipped in with 14. Scoring leader Roy Marble had just eight points, but Davis praised his play.
“I thought Marble’s performance was terrific,” Davis said. “Take the point line out of there and look at what he did passing the ball, setting screens and giving himself up…He has a terrific attitude to the game.”
The Hawkeyes lost in the first round of last year’s Amana-Hawkeye Classic to Arkansas State, 66-62.
After some early sparring with Delaware, Iowa went on a 13-0 run to take a 26-18 lead. The outcome was never in doubt after that.
During that stretch, the Hawkeyes were demons on the offensive boards as Kent Hill, Joe Moe, and Ed Horton all scored after offensive rebounds.
“Against Iowa, you can’t afford to play one minute of bad basketball,” said a bewildered Delaware Coach Steve Steinwedel.
Iowa’s 13-point run was tame compared to the one that took place in the final 8 minutes 53 seconds of the half.
Delaware, losing for the first time in three games, was shut out during that span as a 30-19 deficit ballooned to 53-19.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would blow them out in the first half,” Davis said.
The Blue Hens missed 10 shots and turned the ball over four times in that stretch. The Hawkeyes scored 23 points to cap a half that saw them make 20 of 30 shots (66.7 percent).
Delaware shot just 27.2 percent (9-of-33) in the first 20 minutes.
The catalyst in that streak was Lohaus, the 7-foot forward playing the best basketball of his career.
In one stretch, Lohaus dominated the contest. The play-by-play read like this:
5:22 – Lohaus dunk; 5:14 – Lohaus two free throws; 5:04 – Lohaus steal and runk; 4:42 – Lohaus blocked shot; 3:52 – Lohaus blocked shot; 3:43 – Lohaus rebound and outlet to Gamble for a three-point shot; 2:13 – Lohaus dunk.
“Brad has been playing well,” observed Davis. “I’m just hopeful that it will continue. As a coach you just keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.”
Shortly after his burst of brilliance, the senior from Glendale, Ariz., asked to come out of the game and was given a rousing ovation by the crowd of 8,340. Ironically, Lohaus’ play was witnessed by the smallest crowd in the history of Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a men’s game.
“My career here has really been tough,” said Lohaus, moved from center to forward by Davis this year. “But one thing I learned when I was young was to never give up. I never had any doubts I could play here, but I didn’t want it to take this long. I’m just playing as hard as I can.”
One of the most encouraging things Davis witnessed on this night came on the first play of the second half. Marble could have taken the ball to the basketball on his own. Instead, he dished it off to Lohaus for his fourth dunk of the night.
“To me, that was the key play of the game,” said Davis. “That was unselfish play for your so-called super star. Usually those guys want two more points for themselves.”
“But Roy sets the tone for our whole team. He’s unselfish and not out looking to polish the marble. He just plays the team game and deserves some credit for that.”
Davis was able to use his bench liberally in the second half. Even Steve Lusso, a member of the walk-on team from Davenport, saw 2 minutes of action.
The only player who remained on the sideline was freshman center Les Jepsen. He will miss several games after cutting his foot when he stepped on some class at his apartment.
DELAWARE (47) — Berger 1-8 0-0 2, Jennings 6-10 0-1 12, Gumbs 2-6 0-1 4, Chisholm 1-7 0-0 2, Tucker 5-17 2-4 12, Heckert 4-13 0-0 10, Waterman 0-0 1-2 1, Bowers 1-2 0-0 2, Carr 0-0 0-0 0, Long 1-3 0-0 2, Dudley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-67 3-8 47.
IOWA (95) — Marble 3-5 2-3 8, Lohaus 6-8 4-4 16, Horton 2-6 2-3 6, Armstrong 2-4 1-2 6, Gamble 5-8 3-3 15, Moe 6-11 0-0 14, Jones 2-3 2-2 6, Hill 1-3 2-2 4, Lorenzen 1-4 2-2 4, Morgan 3-6 1-2 7, Jewell 0-2 0-0 0, Casey 0-2 0-0 0, Reaves 4-6 0-0 9, Lusso 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-68 19-23 95.
Halftime—Iowa 53, Delaware 19. Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Delaware 27 (Chisholm 5), Iowa 53 (Horton 9). Assists—Delaware 11 (Chisholm 5), Iowa 23 (Armstrong 7). Total Fouls—Delaware 20, Iowa 12. Technicals—None. Attendance—8,340.
