The Iowa Hawkeyes felt like they missed a chance in their last game, a loss to the rival Iowa State Cyclones. On Sunday against Arkansas Pine-Bluff, a 86-61 blowout win seemed like a release of pent-up frustrations for Fran McCaffery's team after waiting nine days since blowing a late lead to the Cyclones.
Iowa vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff final score: Hawkeyes blow past Golden Lions, 86-61
After recording their second loss of the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes took their frustrations out on the Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions.
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
For the Golden Lions, who lost their ninth in a row, it was simply poor timing to hit such a focused Iowa team.
Jarrod Uthoff led the Hawkeyes' scoring with 16 points off the bench. Josh Oglesby, who missed the first 12 games with a broken foot, returned to hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts en route to 13 points. Center Adam Woodbury added 10 points, four assists -- one was a behind the back pass to Aaron White for a transition dunk -- and four rebounds to lead the starting unit.
Notice the scoreboard there? At one point in the first half, the Hawkeyes actually led by 41 points.
Iowa hit 61.7 percent of its shots and hit 10-of-17 from three-point range, and Arkansas Pine-Bluff shot just 33.8 percent overall. After building the huge lead, the Hawkeyes did get a bit sloppy, committing 27 turnovers.
Iowa scored 24 points through the first nine minutes of the game and during that span held Arkansas Pine-Bluff to a single three-point field goal. It didn’t help the Golden Lions’ cause that they were trigger-happy with jump shots, and even when they got to the free throw line, they missed by going 9-of-17 from the foul stripe.
Black Heart Gold Pants: More on the Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes went 18-of-23 from the field in the first half while holding the Golden Lions below 20 percent shooting themselves. Iowa led 52-15 at half and built a 74-31 lead, its biggest of the day, halfway through the second half before the Golden Lions made a push in the final 10 minutes to cut into the deficit.
Arkansas Pine-Bluff outscored Iowa, 46-34, in the second half.
McCaffery's team will have another nine days off before tipping off their Big Ten schedule against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. But unlike the break between their last two games, the Hawkeyes won't have the itch and emotion of a painful loss to motivate themselves.
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