Wildcats' close losses continue as Iowa prevails 67-62

In a season where they've stayed close with conference opponents, Tuesday night was yet another example as Northwestern again fought hard but again came up short, dropping a heartbreaker 67-62 to visiting Iowa before 3,523 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

"We're not quitting," said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. "I wish they'd just have a little more success because it's just like they can't get a break."

Trailing the Hawkeyes 56-43 with 8:07 left, the Wildcats (8-20, 1-16) used a 12-0 run over the next 4:56, highlighted by 3-pointers from sophomore Kevin Coble (team-high 15 points) and Jeremy Nash, to inch within a point at 56-55.

Junior Craig Moore (9 points) countered a 3 from Iowa junior Tony Freeman (14 points), with his first from long range, as the Wildcats cut the deficit to 60-59.

"We picked up our energy level and we got three or four stops in a row," said Northwestern freshman Michael 'Juice' Thompson, who finished with 14 points. "Every time we got stops we just tried to run our offense through as much as possible and get a good shot."

But just like they had all game, the Hawkeyes (13-18, 6-12) had an answer as freshman Jake Kelly (game-high 18 points) hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to extend the lead to 63-59 with 1:27 left.

Moore, who didn't score his first point until a layup with 5:10 left, sank another 3-pointer as Northwestern inched within 63-62.

Iowa senior Justin Johnson (17 points) missed from long range on the ensuing possession and it looked to be heading the Wildcat's way. But Coble was whistled for his second foul and Iowa senior Seth Gorney calmly sank a pair of free throws with 16.9 seconds left.

Iowa entered with a Big Ten-worst 56.0 points per game, while Northwestern was not much better - just one rung up on the conference ladder at 62.5.

Iowa blitzed the Wildcats with 10 unanswered points in the opening 3:08 and owned a 28-11 lead with nearly 8 minutes left in the first half.

Freeman hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 8 points and Kelly added 7 points as the Hawkeyes shot 54.2 percent (13 of 24) in the opening 20 minutes.

Johnson's second 3-pointer gave the Hawkeyes their largest lead, but Thompson scored 8 of his 10 first-half points to spearhead a 16-5 Wildcat run to end the first half.