Freshman guard Joe Wieskamp scored 18 points and senior forward Nicholas Baer added 16 off the bench as No. 14 Iowa remained undefeated with a 69-68 victory Tuesday over the visiting Pittsburgh Panthers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Trailing by as many as six points in the second half, Iowa used a 12-4 run to take a 64-62 lead and never trailed again.
Junior guard Jordan Bohannon added 12 points for the Hawkeyes (6-0), while Wieskamp had 11 rebounds.
Freshman guard Xavier Johnson scored 18 points for the Panthers (6-1), who lost for the first time under new coach Jeff Capel.
Johnson, who fouled out with 10 seconds remaining, has scored in double figures in all seven games.
Iowa clamped down on defense late in the game, holding Pitt to one field goal in 11 attempts during a nearly seven-minute stretch that ended when Pitt junior forward Kene Chukwuka scored inside to cut Iowa's lead to 67-66 with 1:09 remaining.
Baer hit two free throws with just under a minute remaining, and Iowa held Pitt to just two Johnson free throws the rest of the way. Baer scored 14 points in the second half.
The Hawkeyes had their own field-goal drought in the second half, scoring only on free throws over the final 4:47.
Iowa entered with the NCAA lead in free throws made per game, but junior forward Tyler Cook missed two shots from the line with 10 seconds remaining. Pitt had two chances to win the game, but Trey McGowens missed a shot inside and Sidy N'Dir missed a jumper at the buzzer.
McGowens finished with 10 points for the Panthers.
Iowa sophomore center Luka Garza, who entered leading the Hawkeyes with 16.2 points per game, was held to five points on 2-of-4 shooting.
Pittsburgh took a 46-40 lead into halftime. The Panthers shot 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the field in the opening half. Iowa kept it close in the first half with a 10-3 advantage from the free throw line.
Iowa finished 19 of 28 from the free-throw line, while Pitt went 8 of 13.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | Iowa | |
Xavier Johnson 18 | Scoring | Joe Wieskamp 18 |
Xavier Johnson 6 | Assists | Connor McCaffery 4 |
Terrell Brown 6 | Rebounds | Joe Wieskamp 11 |
Xavier Johnson 4 | Free Throws Made | Tyler Cook 7 |
Khameron Davis 1 | Steals | Jordan Bohannon 6 |
Terrell Brown 1 | Blocks | Joe Wieskamp 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Pittsburgh | 68 | 47.3 | 8-19 | 8-13 | 13 | 35 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
Iowa | 69 | 36.5 | 12-31 | 19-28 | 12 | 33 | 4 | 11 | 14 |