No. 23 Iowa 89, Texas-El Paso 53: Aaron White scored 17 points as the Hawkeyes rolled past the Miners in a semifinal game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Zach McCabe and freshman Peter Jok each tallied 14 points for Iowa (7-0), which is off to its best start since 2000. The Hawkeyes will face Villanova in Saturday’s championship game.
Julian Washburn finished with 13 points for UTEP (4-3), which will take on No. 2 Kansas in the third-place game Saturday. No other player scored more than seven points for the Miners, who set season lows in points and field-goal percentage (34.6).
Iowa imposed its will from the beginning, leading for the final 37 1/2 minutes and establishing a 12-point advantage on a 3-pointer from Mike Gesell less than seven minutes into the game. UTEP, which shot 32.1 percent in the first half, could get no closer than nine points thereafter as the Hawkeyes continued to pick apart the Miners and took a 25-point lead into the break.
White converted a three-point play and scored seven points over the first four-plus minutes of the second half as Iowa’s bulge quickly ballooned to 33. The Hawkeyes led by as many as 38 points late in the contest.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Iowa outrebounded UTEP 46-24. … The Hawkeyes tied a season low with five turnovers while the Miners committed only seven – a season low and half of their season average entering the contest. … Iowa has scored at least 77 points in every game and limited its opponents to 55 points or fewer four times.
Iowa | Texas-El Paso | |
Aaron White 17 | Scoring | Julian Washburn 13 |
Mike Gesell 7 | Assists | C.J. Cooper 3 |
Jarrod Uthoff 10 | Rebounds | McKenzie Moore 5 |
Aaron White 7 | Free Throws Made | Julian Washburn 4 |
Anthony Clemmons 1 | Steals | Matt Willms 2 |
Jarrod Uthoff 2 | Blocks | Vince Hunter 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Iowa | 89 | 52.5 | 9-16 | 18-22 | 22 | 44 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
Texas-El Paso | 53 | 34.6 | 5-22 | 12-21 | 11 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 7 |