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Men’s hoops drops first road game at Iowa

November 27, 2014
Aaric Armstead

Aaric Armstead

Sophomore Aaric Armstead (Chicago, Ill./La Jolla Prep) scored a team-best 13 points but the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team was unable to overcome a 28 percent shooting night as it fell, 70-49, to Iowa on Wednesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Junior Darrell Bowie (Milwaukee, Wis./La Jolla Prep) and senior Jordan Threloff (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb/Illinois State) each added nine points, Threloff also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

“I thought that we competed and played hard,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “I just expected more from my team. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well and that hurts. When you are in a big game on the road you have to knock down a few shots.”

NIU (2-1) was even on the glass with Iowa, 38-38, and had 21 second chance points to just nine for the Hawkeyes, but the Iowa bench outscored NIU’s 28-8 and the Hawkeyes shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field.

Iowa (4-2) scored the opening four points but the Huskies answered with the next six, four from Threloff, as NIU took an early two-point advantage.

Iowa then used a 16-0 run to take a 20-6 lead with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half, but the Huskies scored the next seven to cut the Iowa lead in half.

Bowie started the burst with a basket; Threloff added a basket and a free throw and junior Chuks Iroegbu (Elk Grove, Calif./Franklin/City College of San Francisco) connected on a pair from the line to trim the Iowa lead to 20-13.

After the Iowa lead grew back to 13, Aaric Armstead made a triple from the corner to trim the advantage back to 10, but Iowa scored the final four points of the first half to take a 34-20 lead into the intermission.

Aaron White led all scorers with 10 points in the opening 20 minute; Threloff paced the Huskies with seven

Jordan Threloff

Jordan Threloff

NIU scored six of the first eight to open the second half, cutting the Iowa lead to 10, but the Hawkeyes scored the next seven to push their lead to 43-26 with just over 17 minutes to play.

The Iowa advantage was trimmed back to as little as 11, 50-39, but a 13-0 run by the Hawkeyes put the game out of reach.

White and Anthony Clemmons each scored 14 points to lead the way for Iowa. Adam Woodbury added 12 points and Gabriel Olaseni chipped in 10 for the Hawkeyes.

The Huskies will return to action Sunday, Nov. 30, when they return home to host Maine. Game time against the Black Bears is slated for 1 p.m., and the contest will be shown live on ESPN3.

For more information on NIU men’s basketball and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.