NCAA News Wire
Texas 71, Iowa 57
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
NEW YORK — The Iowa Hawkeyes fell victim to a big Texas run in the second half en route to a 71-57 Longhorns win in the semifinals of the 2K Classic on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
With the score tied 43-43, the No. 10 Longhorns (3-0) went on a 20-5 run to move ahead 63-48 with 5:05 to play. Iowa (2-1) never recovered.
Texas will meet the winner of the other semifinal game between Syracuse and Cal in Friday’s final. Iowa faces the loser of that game in Friday’s consolation game.
Forward Aaron White led the Hawkeyes with 23 points. He scored a personal-best 14 points from the free throw line, going 14 of 16. Center Adam Woodbury added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Texas forward Jonathan Holmes scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half. Guard Isaiah Taylor had 15 points, including 11 in the second half.
Iowa guard Peter Jok’s jumper ended a 6-0 run by the Hawkeyes with 13:58 to play before the onslaught from Texas. White scored four points from the line during the spurt.
Texas took its first lead of the game at 36-35 on a follow from forward Connor Lambert with 17:37 to play.
Holmes scored the first nine points of the second half for Texas. His conventional three-point play tied the score at 32 1:30 after intermission.
Iowa converted only 8 of 30 shots from the floor in the first half but was 11 of 13 from the free throw line and led 30-24. White led the Hawkeyes with 11 points.
The Longhorns closed to 17-15 on a jumper by Holmes, but an alley-oop dunk by White from guard Anthony Clemmons ended an 8-0 run by the Hawkeyes, giving them a 25-15 edge with 5:31 left in the first half.
Texas blocked seven shots in the opening half but sank only 2 of 10 3-point shots.
The Hawkeyes ran out to a 13-2 lead with just over five minutes elapsed in the game. Forward Jarrod Uthoff and White combined for 10 points in the spurt.
NOTES: This is the earliest Iowa has faced a ranked opponent to start a season since 2009 when it also played Texas in the fourth game of the year. The Hawkeyes lost 85-60. … Iowa returned to Madison Square Garden for the second time in two years. The Hawkeyes went to the NIT championship game in 2013, losing to Baylor 74-54. … Texas is making its fifth appearance in the 2K Classic. The Longhorns also played in the tournament in 1997, 2002, 2006 and 2010. … This was the fifth meeting between the teams. Texas leads 3-2 after Thursday night’s win.
