COLUMBUS, Ohio - There’s an invisible line that a good team must cross to become a national or even conference contender.
Iowa climbed over that mental barrier on Sunday.
Roy Devyn Marble scored 22 points, Aaron White added 19 and the 20th-ranked Hawkeyes ended the game on a 22-9 run to hand No. 3 Ohio State (15-2, 2-2) its second loss of the week, 84-74.
It was a watershed game for a program that has fallen short in big games continually over the past several years.
“This is the biggest one,” said Marble, a senior who has been on the front line of the Hawkeyes’ fits and starts lately. “It’s the most important one. Now, to have done this, this is the biggest one - thus far.”
They did it by playing their best when they have frequently buckled - with the game on the line in the closing minutes. Three times this season they had top 10 teams down by more than 10 points but couldn’t close the deal.
Not this time.
“We’ve proven all year long that we’re one of the top teams,” said White, who stuck it to the biggest powerhouse in his home state. “This finally puts it on our resume to signify that. We’ve been up on teams that are highly ranked, but we’ve lost those games down the stretch by not making key plays. I’m really happy, because that’s all we’ve been stressing, the 40-minute game and playing to win. And that’s what we did.”
Melsahn Besabe had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Gesell added 11 points and Jarrod Uthoff had 10 off the bench for the Hawkeyes (14-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who ended a string of eight consecutive losses to the Buckeyes.
They did it on Coach Fran McCaffery’s return to the sideline. He had been suspended by the Big Tenfor one game after angrily confronting the officials at last Sunday’s 75-71 loss at No. 4 Wisconsin. He sat out Thursday night’s 93-67 rout of Northwestern, with assistant Kirk Speraw filling in for him.
It was Iowa’s first victory over a top 5 team since an 83-65 victory at No. 2 Missouri on Dec. 15, 2001.
Ohio State came into the week with 15 consecutive victories and high hopes. Then they made a furious comeback at No. 5 Michigan State before losing 72-68 in overtime.
“The biggest thing is getting our guys to understand, you can’t let one mistake compound into another mistake,” Coach Thad Matta said. “That’s kind of what happened to us today.”
In other Big Ten games Sunday, A.J. Hammons scored 18 points to lead Purdue (11-5, 1-2 Big Ten) to a 70-64 victory over Nebraska (8-8, 0-4) in West Lafayette, Ind. Ronnie Johnson added 14 points for Purdue , which picked up its first league victory. Purdue made 24 of 52 shots, including 5 of 13 shots from behind the three-point line. … Tre Demps scored 11 points and made three late three-pointers to lead Northwestern (8-9, 1-3) to a 49-43 upset of in-state rival No. 23 Illinois (13-4, 2-2) in Evanston, Ill.
PACIFIC-12 Wilcox leads Washington
SEATTLE - C.J. Wilcox set career highs with seven three-pointers and 31 points, including 21 in the second half, for Washington in a 71-54 upset of No. 15 Colorado.
Washington (11-6, 3-1 Pac-12) had lost 12 consecutive against ranked teams.
Colorado (14-3, 3-1) never recovered after leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie crumbled to the court late in the first half after his left knee buckled while dribbling on a fast break. Dinwiddie had to be helped to the locker room by teammates and did not return.
The Huskies outscored the Buffaloes 49-29 after Dinwiddie’s injury.
Josh Scott led Colorado with 15 points. Askia Booker, the reigning Pac-12 player ofthe week, was 0 for 9 from the field and went scoreless for just the second time in his college career.
In other Pac-12 games Sunday, Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown combined for 47 points to lead Stanford (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12) to a 82-80 victory over No. 17 Oregon (13-3, 1-3) in Eugene, Ore. Mike Moser scored 24 points to lead the Ducks (13-3, 1-3), who had two chances to tie the game in the final 8 seconds but Johnathan Loyd missed an open jumper and Dominic Artis had a last-ditch layup roll off the rim as time expired. … Brandon Ashley and T.J. McConnell each scored a season-high 19 points and No. 1 Arizona beat USC (9-7, 0-3) 73-53 for the best start in school history (17-0, 4-0).
AAC Hancock leads Cardinals
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Luke Hancock had a career-high 23 points, including two free throws with 46 seconds remaining, in No. 12 Louisville’s 71-63 victory over SMU in a meeting of Hall of Fame coaches.
Hancock’s second consecutive 20-point game helped Rick Pitino’s Cardinals (14-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) get the final word in his first collegiate matchup against Larry Brown and his Mustangs (11-4, 1-2).
Russ Smith scored 23 points and Montrezl Harrell added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Markus Kennedy had 12 points and eight rebounds in his first start of the season for SMU while Shawn Williams added 10 points.
MOUNTAIN WEST
Aztecs’ streak at 13
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - JJ O’Brien had 18 points and 11 rebounds as No. 13 San Diego State extended its winning streak to 13 games with a 79-72 victory over Air Force.
It is the second-longest winning streak in school history for the Aztecs (14-1, 3-0 Mountain West) and it continues their second-best start ever behind 20-0 in 2010-11.
Tre’ Coggins had 29 points, including five three-pointers, for the Falcons (8-7, 2-2). Xavier Thames had 16 points for the Aztecs and Josh Davis added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Sports, Pages 20 on 01/13/2014