Game story from Jan. 10, 1987 (victory over Minnesota)

Jan. 10, 1987

Hawkeyes roll past Minnesota by 78-57, extend streak to 15

By BUCK TURNBULL

Register Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – When it was over and streaking Iowa had won still another basketball game Saturday night, a dazed Minnesota first-year coach Clem Haskins wondered what hit him.

“Now I know what it feels like to play the second-ranked team in the country – like I’ve been run over by a bulldozer,” said Haskins in praising the powerful Hawkeyes.

“They are a definite possibility for the Final Four down in New Orleans. They have great depth, and that’s what you need to get to the Final Four.”

The hustling Hawks scored one of their most lopsided victories in the history over Minnesota, 78-57, and ran their record to 15-0 – by far the school’s best basketball start ever.

Balanced Attack

As it has been all season under new coach Tom Davis, Iowa, now 3-0 in Big Ten Conference play, used pressure defense and depth of talent for the convincing triumph before a Williams Arena crowd of 16,104, many of whom were Hawkeye fans.

Kevin Gamble led the balanced assault with a career-high 17 points, Ed Horton collected 13, Roy Marble had 12 and Jeff Moe came off the bench to toss in 11.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with what this Iowa team is doing,” Davis said. “But now it’s kind of like a double-edged sword. All we do is win, and then people start thinking you’re really good, and that can start to hurt you.

“If you think you can win just because people think you’re good, that’s when you start to lose. So we’re fighting a constant battle to make sure we work hard and continue this.”

The Hawks won’t have to wait long to see just how good they really are. Next Wednesday night they’ll put their perfect record on the line at No. 12 Illinois, and the following Monday night they go to No. 6 Purdue. Both Illinois and Purdue are ahead of Iowa in the Big Ten standings at 4-0.

The Hawks are now only two victories away from the school record of 17 in a row by Iowa’s Fabulous Five that finished as the runner-up to Bill Russell and San Francisco in the 1956 NCAA tournament. But with those games coming up, tying that school record will take a heap of doing.

First-half Spree

After trailing early, 19-16, Iowa broke the game open midway in the first half with a run of 11 straight points.

Iowa buried the Gophers with another uninterrupted spurt midway in the second half, hitting 12 straight points and outscoring Minnesota by an 18-3 margin for an overwhelming 58-37 lead.

Moe was the sparkplug in the first surge, contributing an assists for a basket by Horton that got the spurt going. Then Moe stole the ball for a layup. And when he followed that with a three-point basket, the Hawks had taken command, 25-16.

Bill Jones had replaced foul-plagued point guard B.J. Armstrong, and his steal for a layup ended the 11-point outburst. Armstrong picked up three fouls in the first 51/2 minutes.

“This is the first time all year that B.J. has gotten into foul trouble,” Davis said. “But Bill Jones came in and did a great job, so did Michael Reaves, so our offense didn’t miss a beat.”

Pressure Defense

Iowa’s defense was so effective forcing turnovers and just generally disrupting the Gophers, that only one player scored for Minnesota in the 15-minute stretch from late in the first half, until 8 minutes 55 seconds remained. That was guard Kim Zureher, who scored all 21 of his game-high points in the last half. He hit three three-point shots.

Early in the game, Minnesota’s other guard, Terence Woods, did most of his team’s scoring with 16 first-half points. But the Gophers were getting almost nothing from their front line of Kelvin Smith, Willie Burton and Richard Coffey.

Smith, averaging 18.2 points in powering the Gophers to a 9-3 mark before Iowa’s surge, was limited to one field goal in five attempts.

No Excuses

“I don’t want to make any excuses,” said Haskins, whose team had a six-game winning streak snapped, “but we’ve had several players who have been battling the flu, and Kelvin is one of them.

“We just got beat by a better ballclub. We are inexperienced and it really showed up tonight.

“What happened was what I was afraid of. Iowa applied constant defensive pressure and we couldn’t handle it.”

The Hawkeyes were outrebounded by one in the first half. (“I don’t think that’s happened before,” Davis said.), but by the game’s end the Hawks had a 45-33 superiority on the boards.

Iowa has routed the Gophers only one time by a larger margin than this in the last 24 years – a 97-71 victory in 1979, also in Williams Arena.

Big Test for Wright

Reaves and Gerry Wright, who are being slowly worked back into the lineup following preseason injuries, played in both halves as Davis substituted freely to wear down the Gophers.

“Wright, with his left hand taped to protect a healing broken bone, took a tumble off the raised floor while chasing a loose ball in the first half, but there was no harm done.

“This was Gerry’s first real test,” Davis said, “and I thought he played better and better as the game wore on.

The bench continues to be a story with the Hawkeyes, Davis added

“Moe had another good night, and Gamble did a lot of nice things – five rebounds in addition to his 17 points,” he said.”

Although it seemed that the Hawks were continually making Minnesota skittish with the ball, the official box score showed them with 16 turnovers to 14 for the Gophers.

But there was no mistaking which team shot the ball better. Iowa hit a shade above 50 percent, with 12 players in the scoring column, while limiting Minnesota to 34 percent, and only 29 percent in the second half.

IOWA (78) — Marble 5-9 2-4 12, Lohaus 4-8 0-1 8, Horton 6-12 1-2 13, Gamble 5-10 6-6 17, Armstrong 1-1 0-0 2, Jones 2-3 2-2 6, Moe 4-9 2-3 11, Lorenzen 1-1 0-2 2, Wright 1-3 0-0 2, Reaves 0-1 1-2 1, Hill 1-1 0-0 2, Jepsen 0-0 0-0 0, Jewell 0-1 0-0 0, Casey 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 14-22 78.

MINNESOTA (57) — Burton 3-12 1-3 7, Smith 1-5 0-1 2, Coffey 1-6 0-0 2, Zurcher 6-14 6-6 21, Woods 8-16 2-2 18, Hanson 1-4 0-0 2, Gaffney 2-6 0-0 5, Shikenjanski 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Retzlaff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 9-12 57.

Halftime—Iowa 37, Minnesota 27. Fouled Out—Armstrong. Rebounds—Iowa 45 (Horton 7), Minnesota 33 (Burton 7). Assists—Iowa 7 (Horton, Gamble 2), Minnesota 4 (Smith, Woods, Hanson, Williams 1). Total Fouls—Iowa 19, Minnesota 18. Technicals—None. Attendance—16,104.